BTDTL Volume 10: Of Vampires and Daemons
by AndrewK9000
Summary: As Sora and the gang return to The Realms of Light, they encounter many old friends and make many new ones. But the enemy is prepairing for a new assult, one that will rock the realms down to their cores. Can our heroes and a new group save the day?
1. Chapter 1: Healing and New Faces

Greetings fellow readers and writers! This is my tenth Kingdom Hearts story and I hope you love it! Okay, this takes place right after my 9th volume of my Beyond the Door to Light: The Yamato Encounter. This fic will be a crossover involving two of my favorite book series; The Twilight Saga & His Dark Materials. At first it'll just involve The Twilight Saga, involving characters and elements, mostly involving stuff that happens after Breaking Dawn. Eventually I'll write a post Breaking Dawn story, but so far I've got nothing on that.

Later on in this fic I'll bring in characters and elements from His Dark Materials, with stuff from after the last book, The Amber Spyglass. Again, someday I'll write a story for that.

Now, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, The Twilight Saga or His Dark Materials. I do own all the original characters, both good and bad, so please don't sue me.

On a more serious note, there have been some reviewers who simply don't agree with what I've been writing. I won't name any names nor will I tell these people to stop bothering me, everyone is entitled to an opinion. But I just want to point out that some of the things I've put in my stories, such as Maleficent being a more powerful Villain than say Hades, is an opinion of mine that I refuse to change. Maleficent is the freaking mistress of all evil, and that, IMHO, makes her more powerful than the god of the Underworld.

There are some things in my fics, especially this one, that some readers won't like. For example, a certain shape shifter from Forks being able to hold his own against Hercules and Mulan together. This is to say that this character has progress farther than the creator of that character has taken that character in her writings. I'm just going further. Anyway, I am not trying to insult Stephanie Myer or Phillip Pullman, rather, this is tribute to them, just as my Harry Potter stories were in praise of J.K. Rowling, and god bless all three of them.

Regardless of what's what, one thing is certain; **THIS IS FANFICTION!**

Thank you.

And now, without further delay, please enjoy…

**Kingdom Hearts: Beyond the Door to Light**

**Volume 10: Of Vampires and Daemons**

**Chapter 1: Healing and New Faces**

"And that's that," said Kairi as she stopped her healing magic on Tess' leg, "no more scars. I'll send you my bill in the morning."

"I can't believe it," said Tess as she stood in front of a mirror in Kairi's room and looked at her now scar-free body, "I'm…whole. I'm a real person again!"

"Yeah, you might want to hold that thought," said Kairi as she got a bathrobe from the closet and handed it to Tess, "I'd definitely cover up. Not that I'm not happy that you're yourself again, but we do have a thing called modesty."

"Oh, I understand completely," said Tess as she slipped the robe on, "it's just that…this is all so overwhelming. I mean, first you and the others pop into my world, help free Metamore from the evil of Phobos, while saving me from self destruction. Then I get my own Keyblade and get to come with you to other worlds. Then we end up in a spaceship of all things, and a talking spaceship at that. Add that to my finally being free of the scars that have plagued me for so long, I'm amazed I haven't passed out yet from all the unbelievable stuff going on."

"Well I'm glad you're adapting," said Sidney, "and I'm not a talking ship, I'm the ships' artificial intelligence program, the brain of _The Intrepid Heart_." Sidney was in fact a hologram of a girl in her late teens, with shoulder-length tawny hair and hazel eyes, wearing a green and white shirt and skirt with orange shoes.

"Now," said Sidney as she stood up from her chair, "I may be just a smart program, but I know lot about fashion. What you need is a complete overhaul on your appearance. That shirt and jacket you wore was good only for covering what you don't have any more."

"You're right," said Tess as she still admired herself in the mirror. Now that she wasn't ashamed of herself anymore, she realized just how pretty she was, and how much a woman she was.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Sidney asked, "where should we start first? You outfit? Your hair? I think you'd look incredible with ringlets."

Just then Naminé appeared next to Kairi, "well I think she'd look incredible in anything."

"Where've you been?" Tess asked.

"Inside of my heart," said Kairi. She looked at Naminé, "enjoy your rest?"

"I feel like a million Munny," said Naminé as she stretch out, "and so does Roxas."

At the same time in the ship's recreation room, while Sora and Riku were busy killing each other on Halo, with Aiden watching, Roxas popped out of Sora, scaring all three of the Somebodies in the room.

"Boy, I feel great," said Roxas as he stretched, "I needed that rest."

"Are you out of your freaking mind!" exclaimed Aiden, "scaring us like that! What is wrong with you!"

"When you spend a lot of your time inside someone's heart," said Roxas, "you don't get a lot of chances to have fun."

"Well we're all going to have all the fun we want while we're waiting for Cid to fix the ship," said Sora as our heroes headed for the bridge, "after all the fighting we did with the Hakonians and Heartless, not to mention Gamilus."

"You forgot The Daleks," said Kairi as she, Tess and Naminé met Sora and the others on the bridge.

"I wish I could forget them," said Aiden in a slightly depressed tone, "how can anything so full of hate like those metal monsters even be allowed to exist?"

"Why do The Heartless exist?" Riku asked in response.

"We all know that," said Sora, "they're the darkness that exist in peoples heart, and they'll still be here as long as there's darkness in hearts."

"Somebody ought to figure out a way to purge the darkness from everything," said Tess as our heroes took up their stations on the bridge, "but that's not a good idea. Without evil, things would be pretty boring." Tess was wearing a blue and white top with blue jeans and black boots, while her wrists had green and orange bracelets.

"I won't argue with that," said Aiden, "but at least people wouldn't get hurt."

"All we can do is help as many people as we can," said Sora, "save as many worlds as we can, and hopefully find the other Princesses of Heart before Maleficent does."

"We've met three," said Kairi, "Sara Lancaster, Usagi Tuskino and Miley Stewart. I think I have an idea on who one of the other four are."

"If you're thinking about who I think you're thinking about," said Riku, "then after we visit the worlds here, we're going to take a trip to The Magical Dimension, specifically The Realm of Magix."

"Sounds fantastic," said Tess, "what's in The Realm of Magix that's so important?"

"Not what," said Kairi, "who. Specifically, fairies."

"Oh, you did tell me about meeting human-sized fairies," said Aiden in a contemplative manner, "you think one of them could be a Princess of Heart? I'll have to see them to be sure."

"That's what I was thinking as well," said Kairi, "but I have a pretty good idea which one is the one we need to find."

"Which one?" Sora asked, "all of The Winx seemed to have pure hearts. Stella's power came from the sun and moon, Musa's came from music, Flora listened to the voice of nature, Tecna surfed on technology, and Bloon's the one with the fiery spirit."

"I'm thinking it's Bloom," said Kairi, "of the five Winx, Bloom seemed to have the most pure heart, but we won't know for sure until we get there and have Aiden get a good look at them."

"I can hardly wait," said an eager Aiden, "from what you told me about the fairies of the Magical Dimension, then I'm going to have the time of my life getting to know them."

"Easy there, hound dog," said Kairi, "most of The Winx have boyfriends."

"Well you told me that there are other fairies at that school they go to," said Aiden as he thought of all the pretty girls he'd have to examine in order to determine if one of them was one of the new Princesses of Heart, "I'm sure there's plenty of single ladies who might find me interesting."

"You are kinda weird," said Tess in a teasing manner.

"And you've got history that would drive some people crazy," said Aiden, also in a teasing manner.

"I'm over my past," said Tess in an annoyed tone, "but what about you? What skeletons are you hiding in your closet?"

"At least I'm not a murdering psychopath," said Aiden, also in an annoyed tone.

"I don't do that anymore," said an irate Tess.

"Then why do you still have razors?" an irate Aiden asked.

"They're good razors!" said an outraged Tess, "and they make good weapons! And don't shout at me!"

"I am not shouting!" said an irate Aiden.

"Hey, don't fight!" said Naminé, "we're all in this together."

"She's right," said Kairi, "the last thing we need is for all of us to turn on each other."

"It's something Maleficent would do," said Sora, "I'm surprised she didn't try that on us yet."

"It would be the perfect villain ploy to make the heroes hate each other," said Roxas.

"It would," said Naminé, "maybe Maleficent already has put the whammy on all of us."

"I don't feel like a whammy has been put on me," said Aiden.

"Me neither," said Tess.

"I've got a feeling that Maleficent has other plans that we won't like at all," said Riku, he then looked at the navigation data on his computer screen, "and if anyone's interested, we're coming up on Radiant Garden."

"Take us out of hyperspace," said Sora, "and try to get Cid on the radio," he sighed with reluctance, "I just know he's going to freak out when he sees how bad we've treated the ship."

"How angry can he be?" Kairi asked.

* * *

><p>…Radiant Garden…an hour later…<p>

"Sweet meat on a Sunday!" exclaimed Cid as he saw the extent of the damage to the ship, "what'd ya do to her?"

Riku had landed _The Intrepid Heart _in a docking bay that Cid has set up near the Restoration Site. Cid, Yuffie and Merlin had met our heroes as they exited the ship, and Cid wasn't happy at all.

"I just finished building the dang thing for you!" said an irate Cid as he examined all the battle damage on the hull of _The Intrepid Heart_, "and the first time you fly her, you wreck her!"

"It's not like we wanted to," said Sora in a sheepish tone, "we didn't intentionally fly her into a hailstorm of death rays."

"Uh, actually," said Kairi in a reluctant tone, "we did."

"Oh, right," said a still sheepish Sora.

"We had a bit of a run-in with The Daleks," said Tess.

"Daleks you say?" Merlin asked in a surprised yet curious manner, "I was under the impression that they were all destroyed during the last great Time War."

"Believe me," said Riku, "they weren't all destroyed in the war."

"Come to think of it," said Aiden, "I'm not so sure that we managed to destroy them all. We were told that if there's one thing Daleks are good at, it's surviving."

"All we can hope is that we got them all," said Kairi, "oh, by the way. Cid, Yuffie, Merlin, this is Aiden and Tess, they're the new guys."

"We've heard quite a bit about you two from King Mickey," said Merlin as he, Cid and Yuffie shook hands with Tess and Aiden.

"Good or bad things?" Aiden hesitantly asked.

"A little of column A and a little of column B," Yuffie teased.

"Which column do I fit under?" Tess asked cautiously.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," said a still teasing Yuffie.

"Well," said Tess in an unsure manner, "aren't you quirky."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," said Yuffie, "but do go on."

"So, Cid?" Sora cautiously asked as he and Sidney, who was wearing her mobile emitter, stood next to the irate mechanic. "can you fix her?"

"I'd like to know that myself," said Sidney in a slightly worried tone as she placed her left hand on her right forearm, "can you fix _The Intrepid Heart_? This is my body after all"

"Of course I can!" said Cid, "I built her for crying out loud!" he tapped the side of the ship, "when I build Gummy Ships, I make em to last!" he tapped the ship again, and a small section of the hull fell off.

"Oh, my poor epidermis," said a cringing Sidney.

"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me," said Cid in a conceding manner, "alright, better get to work," he picked up a large toolbox, "this is gonna take a while, so I hope you younguns' got some time on your hands."

"No problem," said Sora.

"We already have plans," said Kairi.

"If it's okay with you and the others, Sora," said Sidney, "I'm going to switch off for a while. Even A.I. programs need their rest."

"Have a good nap!" said Goofy.

"I plan to," said Sidney.

"Wait, Sidney?" said Sora, "I should have asked you this earlier, but why is there a watermelon attached to the engine?"

"Oh, that," said Sidney, "it'd take too long to explain," she then detached her mobile emitter and handed it to Aiden, "take care of that," and she vanished.

"But why is there a watermelon hardwired to the engine?" Sora asked, "Cid, what's the deal with it?"

"It's a long story," said Cid.

"This is gonna drive me crazy," muttered Sora.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Aiden asked as he held up the mobile emitter.

"Well for one thing, don't lose it," said Kairi, "Sora, if you and the boys need us, Tess and I will be in the shopping district."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Sora asked.

"What?" Kairi asked. She then blinked as she remembered, "oh, right, this is where I was born."

"I can assure you, dear lady," said Merlin, "things are quite different from when you where here with your grandmother."

"My grandmother?" Kairi asked in a slightly confused tone, "I…yeah, it's starting to come back now. She always told me the best stories, especially about how in the beginning, everyone loved the light, but then began to fight over it and creating darkness."

"I can wait to go shopping if you want to look around," said Tess, "I'm okay with you trying to remember the past."

"I think that's what I want to do," said Kairi.

"We'll go with you," said Sora, "for emotional support if you want." at that Riku, Aiden, Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"I think that'll also work," said a smiling Kairi.

"I'll show you around," said Yuffie, "Sora, you're not going to believe how much progress we've made putting this world back together."

"I believe you will be surprised," said Merlin, "but if you'll excuse me, I have a few important errands to run." With that he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Is that normal for this world?" Tess asked, "I'm still getting used to traveling to other worlds."

"That's just Merlin," said Yuffie as she lead our heroes away from the dock, while Cid was already at work, banging away at the damages to the ship.

"Oh, Yuffie," said Sora, "Where's Leon?"

"Ya'd think he'd be here," said Donald.

"He wanted to be," said Yuffie in a serious tone, "but…let's just say he's busy."

"Doing what?" Riku asked.

"You'll find out," said Yuffie, "I'll take you to our new training arena. It's on the other side of the Marketplace."

"Guess we'll get to do some shopping after all," said Tess.

"Yeah," said a now slightly uncomfortable-looking Kairi, "and through everyone that's there."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, things went much more smoothly than expected. Yuffie lead our heroes through the Restoration Site, through the Borough and past the Marketplace. True as Yuffie said, Sora was impressed by the work done to undo the damage inflicted upon the world while it was under the darkness. While they were in the Borough, Sora looked out towards the castle and saw that, where as before it was swarming with Heartless, there were only a few scampering Shadows and Soldiers here and there, being chased by the white orbs and discs of the towns security system.<p>

"We're almost ready to move into the castle and start repairs," said Yuffie, "we thought it'd be another six months before we got rid of all those Heartless, but a new friend helped clean out the place in just twelve hours. By tomorrow the town's security system will have finished wiping them out and we can start restoring the castle proper, starting with the electricity and plumbing."

"Last time I was here you guys couldn't get within a mile of that place," said an astonished Sora, "who could have destroyed all those Heartless in twelve hours?"

"Sounds more like a what than a who," said Riku, "no human can single-handedly destroy that many Heartless in twelve hours."

"I'll bet Ranma could," said Kairi, "but he went with Sara to Dream Valley."

"You're going to meet the new guy soon," said a grinning Yuffie, "he's really cool, and gorgeous to boot." She then frowned a bit, "but also kinda strange, really strange, like so way out of this world strange. You'll know what I mean when you see it."

She then lead our heroes towards the town proper, where dozens of people were already gathered to greet Sora and the others, and more and more people were coming all the time. They all cheered Sora, Donald and Goofy as the world saviors they were, while they greeted Riku with equal praise. They didn't know Aiden and Tess, but they warmly welcomed them as well.

"A comrade of Sora is a comrade of ours as well," said one of the citizens.

"I don't really feel like a hero," Tess whispered to Riku in an uncomfortable tone, "if these people knew what I did on Metamore, they'd…"

"They'd see you as the unstoppable freedom fighter you are," said Riku in a reassuring manner as he affectionately held her hand. She smiled at him as she regained her confidence and he smiled back.

But then the citizens hushed and bowed before Kairi, who was looking very uncomfortable right now. _:Why are they all looking at me like I'm a real princess?: _she said to Sora.

_:But you are,: _said Sora, _:You're their princess, not just a Princess of Heart.:_

"Princess Kairi," said one of the citizens, "on behalf of all of Radiant Garden, welcome home."

"I…uh…that is…" said a nervous Kairi, _:I definitely don't feel like a princess right about now.:_

_:You are to me,:_ said Sora in a reassuring manner.

At that Kairi regained her confidence, "thank you, all of you. I want you all to know that I'm sorry that I couldn't have been with you when things were at their darkest, and I'm sorry that I'll have to go away again soon. My friends need me to stand against the darkness. But someday I will come back again, and hopefully I'll be able to stay longer and get to know all of you."

With that the people began clapping and cheering for Kairi.

"You're a natural," said Sora.

"I guess so," said Kairi.

They made their way through the crowd, stopping here and there to shake someone's hand and to receive well wishes.

"You think you might want to come back here to stay someday?" Sora asked Kairi.

"I don't know," said Kairi, "I was born here, but…I just don't know if I can ever see this place as my home."

"Well if you change your mind," said Sora, "I guess that I can come with you, if that's what you want."

"Right now all I want is to be with you wherever you go," said Kairi.

"And I'll go where you go," said Sora. With that they kissed. This caused all the people in the area to cheer loudly.

"Looks like the princess has found her prince," teased Naminé.

"They found each other long ago," said Roxas.

After several more well wishes to her people, Kairi and the others made their way through the Borough. They reached a newly built building outside the Marketplace. It was an arena similar to the one found in Olympus Coliseum, only a bit smaller and colored blue and green.

"When did this get here?" Sora asked as he and the admired the new edition to the world.

"We had a few visitors while you were out saving those new worlds," said Yuffie, "one of them wanted to, 'improve' things, as he said."

"Who would want to make things different here?" Kairi asked.

"That would be me," said Phil as he walked up to our heroes.

"Phil!" exclaimed Sora, "what are you doing here?"

"Didn't you just hear why?" Phil asked in an annoyed tone, "I'm helping the fighters of this world get in shape. Those guys like Leon and Yuffie, they're 'okay' against monsters like The Heartless and such, but they can be better."

"Okay?" an outraged Yuffie asked, "just okay? I'm the best ninja in the realms!"

"We know someone better," said Riku.

Just then Sora and the others heard the sound of a heated sword fight going on inside the training arena. "Who's fighting who?" Aiden asked.

"Glad you asked," said Phil, "you're about to see someone who knows what he's doing." he lead our heroes into the arena and up to the stadium. Sitting there already was Leon, while a few seats to the left were The Gullwings; Yuna, Rikku and Paine, who were watching the fight below with avid eyes.

"Welcome back," said Leon as he nodded at Sora and the others.

"How's it going, Leon?" Sora asked.

"It's been okay," said Leon, "things could be better though. We've got the Heartless situation pretty much under control, but there's no telling when Maleficent will make her move against the realms, and if she does, we're going to need all the help we can."

"That's why I helped make this arena," said Phil, "and I hope to build a few others here and there on other worlds."

"When did travel among the worlds become so easy?" Riku asked.

"I'll tell you later," said Leon, "look at who's fighting."

Sora and the others looked down to the arena floor and was surprised to see not only Hercules, but also Mulan. The two of them were having a furious sparing match with a tall Native American who had short black hair and brown eyes. He wore a brown t-shirt and tan shorts, and fought with a long metal staff.

The two warriors from the realms fought at the height of their respective styles, but the Native American with the staff fought with twice as much passion as both Hercules and Mulan put together, easily blocking all of their attacks and striking back furiously, yet still in control so as not to hurt them. Sora realized that Yuna, Rikku and Paine were more interested in the Native American, especially his good looks, than the fight itself

Curious as to the newcomer, Sora asked Leon and Yuffie, "who's that guy?"

"It's the weirdest thing," said Yuffie, "He fell out of the sky yesterday. It was some kind of portal from another world."

"He said that he was separated from someone precious to him," said Leon, "he was worried sick about her and nearly went berserk trying to find a way to get back to her."

"But we couldn't help the guy," said Yuffie, "we didn't know what world he came from, and he couldn't remember exactly what happened to him, only that he was separated from his friend. At that time a few Heartless tried to attack, but this guy," she smiled, "he tore them apart with his bare hands. He said that it helped him feel better and asked if there were any more nearby.

"We pointed out all the Heartless swarming the castle and he was all but ready to dive into them. Leon said it was crazy to take on that many Heartless without a weapon, so we went to the Moogle shops and he picked out a weapon, that staff, and we bought it for him. Actually, Leon bought it."

"He said he'd pay me back later," said Leon, "so this guy, his name's Jacob Black by the way, he tore thought all those Heartless like crap through a goose. He destroyed tens of thousands of the little monsters in twelve hours without stopping. He then collapsed and slept for a few hours, and when he woke up, he was ready to do some more fighting. The castle was all but cleared of Heartless, so when Herc and Mulan showed up, they offered to give him a workout."

"And what a workout," said Yuna in an adoring tone as she and teammates watched Jacob Black continue to dominate the fight.

"But why is he so eager to fight?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know," said Paine, "but I want one for my birthday."

"Me too," said Rikku, while Yuna sighed with delight.

"That still leaves my question," said Kairi, "I can tell that he's frustrated about not being able to go find his friend, but there's more to Jacob than that."

Just then Merlin popped in, startling Aiden and Tess, "I believe I can answer your question, young princess."

"Do you have to scare us like that?" an irate Tess asked, "my nerves are still taught from being a murdering freedom fighter for five years."

"You definitely need a vacation," said Aiden, "just take a few days to chiliex…chillaxion…wait, what's the word?"

"Chillax," said Riku, "part chill, part relax."

"Right," said Aiden, he then looked at Merlin, "so, what's the deal with this guy? What's Jacob's problem?"

"As the amazing wizard that I am," said Merlin, "I have been endowed with certain abilities that allow me to examine the mindset of those I observe. Having observed young Jacob for the better part of a day, I have discovered that he is no ordinary human being."

"Is it that obvious?" Riku asked as everyone continued to watch Jacob dominate the fight with Hercules and Mulan.

"I mean more than his extraordinary physical prowess," said Merlin, "yet those abilities do merit mentioning. He has the strength of several men and the endurance of several more, as well as extremely acute senses. I'll bet he can hear us talking right now all the way up here in the seats, while still focusing on the fight.

"As for his other abilities, I am convinced that he has a bond with this girl he was so frantic over, a young woman who's very existence is the foundation of his. These two individuals are linked through their minds and hearts in a way that he would do anything for her if she would ask it, while she would probably do the same, but I can't validate that claim until I meet the girl.

"There's more. He has a mental connection with a few other individuals, with whom they are his followers. This man is the leader of a small group of warriors dedicated to protecting human lives from evil forces. And he has been separated from those he leads, straining his link with them to the point where he can barely sense them at all. For all he knows, his comrades believe him to be dead, as well as the others that he cares for."

"That's terrible," said Kairi.

"What kind of evil forces?" Aiden asked.

Just then Jacob delivered a hard thrust from his staff at Hercules, forcing him back. He then turned his attention onto Mulan, furiously forcing her nearly off her balance.

"You can do it, Mulan!" shouted Sora.

Mulan then saw Sora, while Hercules saw him as well. "Sora!" they both shouted, happy to see their friend again.

But this was an opening that Jacob waiting for. He bashed Mulan on the head with his staff, then bashed Hercules on the head, knocking them both to the ground and forcing them to drop their weapons.

"Oh for crying out loud!" exclaimed an irate Phil as he jumped down to the arena floor and ran up to Hercules, who was starting to get back up, "what did I tell you? Never let the audience distract you!"

"Sorry, Phil," said Hercules as he felt where he got hit, "it won't happen again."

"You'd better not let it happen again," said Phil.

At the same time, Jacob was helping Mulan get up, "sorry about that," he said in a calm tone, calm now that he had a chance to work out a lot of aggression, "heat of the moment thing."

"Gee thanks," said a sore Mulan.

"Two words to remember, kido," said Phil to Mulan, "Distractions Equal Defeat."

Just then Mushu appeared on Mulan's shoulder, "That's actually three words. Work out your math better next time, okay?"

"I can count just fine, pipsqueak," said an irate Phil, "and you need to learn to respect those who know what they're doing."

"Well then I guess you're no better than someone who belongs in school," said Mushu as he hopped down from Mulan's shoulder, walked over and glared up at Phil.

"I oughta clean your sundial, lizard lips!" shouted Phil as he bent down and glared at Mushu.

"Bring it, goat-boy!" snapped Mushu.

"No!" shouted Mulan, "you shouldn't fight!"

"We're all in this together," said Hercules, "just because one of us made a mistake, doesn't mean we should all break each others necks over it."

"That's right," said Mulan, "wait, who made a mistake?"

"I'm looking at a certain junior hero," said Hercules.

"We're real heroes now!" said Donald.

"He's talking about me," said Sora, "I shouldn't have shouted like that and make you guys mess up."

"It's okay," said Hercules, "someone else would have shouted at some point. From where I was standing, the fight didn't look like it was going to end any time soon."

"I'll say," remarked Jacob, "you're incredible," he looked at Mulan, "both of you."

"Well you're no slouch either," said Mulan.

"You just got lucky," said Mushu, "my girl would have cleaned your water clock."

"Oh yeah?" Jacob asked as he hefted his staff, "care to back that up?"

"Wait a second," said Riku, "first things first." He and the others then introduced themselves to Jacob, Jacob Black actually.

"If you tell us how you got here," said Riku, "my friends and I might be able to help you get back to your world."

"That'd be great," said Jacob in a sarcastic tone, "then I can go back to all my friends and family and have a big welcome home party where I can tell the story of my weird trip to another universe," he then looked at our heroes in a serious manner, "No, I'm not leaving, not without Nessie."

"Who's Nessie?" Kairi asked.

At that Jacob sighed, as if he was having trouble finding the right words to say, "it's complicated. Nessie is like my little sister, best friend and soul mate all wrapped up in one."

"I did say that I was a confounding situation," said Merlin.

"Well, we'll help find Nessie first," said Kairi, "do you have any idea where she is?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell everyone else here!" snapped Jacob as he threw his staff down in frustration with enough force to send it bouncing away several yards, "I don't know anything about this place, this mixed-up universe with talking animals and Heartless and other stuff, so I don't know where to look. All I know is that Nessie is here somewhere, and she's in trouble."

"If you can get close enough to Nessie," said Tess, "can you sense her?"

"Like on the same world close," Aiden added.

"I think so," said Jacob as he began to calm down, "even if I can't sense her, if she's on the same world, she'd probably find me first."

"Can she sense you as well?" Sora asked.

"She'd certainly smell me," said Jacob, "Nessie's really special, and she could pick me out of a crowd any day of the week with just her nose alone."

"You do have a distinct musk about you," said Tess in a slightly uncomfortable tone.

"Just tell us what happened," said Sora, "it'll help us find Nessie."

_:It will?: _Aiden asked telepathically.

_:It can't hurt to know,: _said Riku.

"Alright," sighed Jacob, "it's a long, long, long story, so I hope you've got a lot of time on your hands."

"We're stuck here until Cid fixes our ship," said Riku, "so we've got all the time we need."

"Okay," said Jacob, "but can we do this in private? The fewer people who know the full story, the better."

"No problem," said Sora. He then looked at Hercules, Phil, Mulan, Mushu, Leon, Yuffie, Merlin and the Gullwings, "We'll see you guys later."

"If you're interested in privacy," said Merlin, "my workshop is available." He then teleported our heroes and Jacob directly to his workshop.

"Give a little warning next time, will you!" exclaimed Aiden.

"That wasn't like using the Möbius Continuum," said Tess, "that was…I don't even know what words to use, but I know I don't like it."

"Well what did you expect?" Merlin asked, "I'm a wizard, I have to be surprising." With that he teleported out.

"I hope that's the weirdest part this world has to offer," said Aiden.

"Wait 'till you meet Tron," said Sora.

"It's stuff like that that makes me homesick," said Jacob, "teleporting wizards and stuff, it makes me really miss Forks, that's my hometown. So…where do I start? Well, I guess you need to understand that where I'm from, there's no such thing as ordinary. My family and others among my people, the Quileute tribe, we've always had people with a special kind of magic."

"How special?" Sora asked curiously, "we've seen several kinds of magic."

"I'll bet you've never seen one like this," said Jacob as he took off his shirt, then the rest of his clothes.

"What the hell are you doing, man!" exclaimed Aiden as he and the others looked away, yet Jacob seemed unconcerned about striping naked in front of total strangers.

"I happen to like this shirt," said Jacob, "and I picked up the habit of saving clothes from being ruined. You'll understand soon enough, but you need to pay attention or you'll miss it."

"Miss what?" Riku asked as our heroes cautiously looked at Jacob.

"This," said Jacob, "and try not to throw up." His whole body seemed to shimmer and fluctuate, and in the blink of an eye, he phased in a very large, brown-furred wolf.

"What the…!" exclaimed Donald.

"Oh my freaking gods!" exclaimed Aiden.

"Whoa!" said both Riku and Tess.

"Gwarsh!" said Goofy

Sora and Kairi, as well as Roxas and Naminé, were completely speechless.

The wolf then rippled again and phased back into Jacob in another blink of an eye. "You guys didn't faint," said a smiling Jacob as he put his clothes back on, "that's a good sign."

"A good sign of what?" Sora asked in a disturbed manner, "that you're some kind of werewolf?"

"We're more like shape shifters than werewolves," said Jacob, "I know, it's confusing, and for a while my pack and everyone else in the tribe who could phase thought they were werewolves, which we're not, but what I can do is nothing compared to what some of the other people I know can do, but they're not as cool."

"We're all ears," said Kairi in a still stunned tone.

"Least we're not all fur, whiskers and tails," said Tess in a teasing manner.

"Like I haven't heard that before," said a slightly annoyed Jacob.

* * *

><p>…Twilight Town…20 hours earlier<p>

"So your mom moved to Forks and met your dad in high school," said Olette as she, Hayner, Pence and their new friend, Renesmee, walked through Market Street to the Sandlot, "they got married after graduation, and eventually you came along."

"Yeah," said Renesmee, "it was a really special time for everyone." Renesmee was about Olette's height, with long, curly bronze-colored hair and striking chocolate-brown eyes. She had pale yet vibrant skin and wore a brown shirt with a blue jacket and blue jeans and brown boots. She had a short sword with a wooden handle belted to her waist.

"You're taking all of this well," said Pence, "being in another world."

"I'm used to extraordinary things," said Renesmee, or Nessie as she liked to be called, "but, I'm not used to talking about it with others. We're all really close, me and my family, especially Jacob."

"Just who is Jacob?" Hayner asked as they reached the Sandlot.

"He's the most wonderful man in the world!" said Nessie as she sighed with happiness, "except for my father. But Jacob…how can I say it…it's like we were meant to be together, right from the day, the hour, from the very second I was born, we were meant for each other, like we complete each other."

"Sounds like one awesome guy," said Olette, "and you're awesome."

"I'm not that special," said Nessie in a modest tone a she blushed slightly.

"Well you are," said Olette, "you're one of the few people we've met from other worlds, and the second girl we've met who fell out of her own world. The first was being chased by these weird guys in black coats."

"Black coats?" Nessie asked cautiously, "what color were their eyes?"

"There was only that one weird guy," said Pence, "with spiky red hair and green eyes."

"Oh," said Nessie in a relieved tone, "I thought you were talking about someone else." she then hastily changed the subject before anyone could ask her further about what she was talking about, "so, what's this game you want to show me?"

"It's the best game ever," said an eager Hayner, "you're going to love it."

"That's a bold statement," said a smiling Nessie, "tell me more."

"It's called Struggle," said Pence as they reached the billboard at one corner of the area, "two fighters use foam bats. Each start out with 100 orbs, and you use the foam bats to knock off your opponent's orbs, then you collect the orbs."

"Each match lasts one minute," said Hayner, "the winner is whoever has the most orbs at the end of the match. If you can knock off all of your opponent's orbs and collect them before time runs out, you automatically win."

"Sounds like fun," said Nessie.

"It's the best," said Hayner, "we'll show you how to play." He and Olette each took up a foam bat and 100 orbs, then stood in the middle of the Sandlot, with Nessie and Pence sitting to one side.

"I'll be the official for this round," said Pence as he held up a stopwatch, "you guys ready?"

"We're ready!" said both Hayner and Olette as they took up their ready positions.

"Then go!" shouted Pence as he started the clock.

Hayner and Olette rushed at each other and struck with their foam bats; Harner knocked off 17 of Olette's orbs, while she knocked off 14 of his. They then took a few seconds to try to get as many orbs as they could before resuming attacking each other. Then they crossed bats again, Hayner had 102 orbs, while Olette had 98.

Hayner then hit Olette with a hard enough strike to stun her for a few seconds, while knocking off over 20 of her orbs. He then hit her again, knocking off more orbs, but also causing her to recover her senses.

Olette then got behind Hayner and delivered a vicious backswing strike that stunned him, allowing Olette to collect more orbs. This pattern went on for the rest of the match.

"3...2...1...Time!" shouted Pence. Hayner and Olette stopped and counted their orbs. There were still several orbs on the ground. Hayner had 108 while Olette had 87.

"The winner is Hayner!" said Pence.

"Good game," said Olette as she and Hayner shook hands, "but I'll get you next time!"

"In your dreams," said a grinning Hayner.

"That was so cool!" said an eager Nessie, "they don't have games like that back home!"

"Well that's one good thing about you coming here," said Olette.

"Wanna watch another round?" Hayner asked, "I'll kick Pence's but this time."

"No way, man!" said Pence as he grabbed a foam bat, "It's my turn to kick butt!"

"Actually," said Nessie as she also grabbed a foam bat, "I think I'd like to try my luck at kicking butt."

"But you only saw one round," said Hayner, "how can you play if you don't know how?"

"Who said I didn't know how to play?" Nessie asked as he grabbed 100 orbs, "I'm a fast learner, so let's play. Unless you're scared of being beaten by a girl."

"He's more worried he'll hurt you," said Olette in a teasing manner.

"I'm just worried about humiliating an amateur," said Hayner as he and Nessie walked to the middle of the area and took up fighting stances, "I'll go easy on you since this is your first time."

"I'd be happier if you didn't," said Nessie in a serious tone as she held her bat with one hand in a high stance.

"Well, if that's how you want to play," said Hayner, "we'll play your way."

"Go!" shouted Pence as he started the clock.

Nessie stood her ground as Hayner rushed at her and swung his bat. She easily blocked the bat, then struck back, knocking off about 12 orbs. Before Hayner could try go get his orbs back, Nessie had scooped them all up.

"What's the matter?" Nessie asked, "am I going too fast for you?"

"Darn it!" shouted Hayner as he rushed at Nessie again. She blocked his furious strikes, then she struck back, knocking off more of his orbs, then scooped them up before he could even try go get them.

Before anyone knew it, Pence called the match over. Hayner was left with nine orbs, while Nessie had 191.

"Wow!" said an impressed Pence, "you totally owned that match."

"I told you I was a fast learner," said Nessie as she shook Hayner's hand.

"Yeah," said a slightly dumbfounded Hayner, but he smiled nonetheless.

Olette was about to congratulate them both on a great match, but then she frowned at the sight of three unpleasant individuals entering the Sandlot from the Tram Common, "uh-oh, here comes trouble."

"Who are they?" Nessie asked as Seifer, Rai and Fuu walked up to Hayner, Pence and Olette, looking like they owned the place.

"Three of the biggest jerks in town," said a slightly irate Hayner.

"But with the best reputations," said Seifer as he glared at Hayner and the others, "as chairman of Twilight Town's Disciplinary Committee, I want to know what you three losers are up to with this stranger."

"All newcomers to town need to check in with Seifer, ya' know?" Rai asked, "it's the rules, ya' know?"

"Mandatory," said Fuu.

"She's our friend," said Olette as she, Pence and Hayner stood around Nessie defensively, "and she doesn't have to answer to jerks like you!"

"That's right!" said Pence.

"I can fight my own battles," said Nessie as she gently pushed her way past Hayner, Pence and Olette, "but thanks for caring."

"Just watch out for them, Nessie," said Olette, "these three aren't the kind to hold back."

"We're only rough on those who deserve it," said Seifer, "and as for the new girl, Nessie."

"Only my friends and family can call me that," said Nessie as she glared defiantly at the three jerks, "you can call me Renesmee, or, since you're such arrogant jerks, Ms. Cullen will do."

"Whatever," said Fuu.

"Yeah, whatever, ya' know?" said Rai, "we're the ones asking the questions around here, ya' know?"

"You seem to be the only one asking questions around here, tall order," said Nessie.

"Don't disrespect your betters!" snapped Seifer.

"I'll respect those who deserve respect," said Nessie as she irately glared at the three jerks, "and for the record, I hate bullies."

"We're not bullies, ya' know?" said Rai, "we just want to be friends, ya' know?"

"I know someone I don't like when I see them," said Nessie, "and I'm looking at three of them right now."

"I don't think this little girl knows how to pay the proper respect," said Seifer, while Rai and Fuu cracked their knuckles, "I think we ought to teach her a lesson."

"You jerks want to teach me?" Nessie asked, "I'll show you who's the teacher!"

"Hold on a second!" said the Struggle Official as he walked up to the four of them, "around here we try to avoid unnecessary fights. If you've got a bone to pick with each other, then settle it over a Struggle match."

"That's a good idea, ya' know?" Rai said, "Seifer's gonna totally own you, little girl, ya' know?"

"No contest," said Fuu.

"Is that so?" Nessie asked, "or are you guys just blowing off steam? Since the three of you seem to dislike me for some reason, why not all of you fight me at once?"

"What?" shouted Hayner, Pence, Olette and Seifer.

"Why not?" Nessie asked, "might as well get it all said and done with."

"We agree on that," said Seifer, "alright, me and my gang against you, little girl."

"Nessie, don't do it," said Hayner, "these guys play rough, big time."

"They're gonna wipe the floor with you!" said Pence.

"And then they'll go to work on you," said Olette, "just back away. It's not worth it."

"Yes it is," said Nessie, her face set with determination, "back home, one of my favorite books is called Atlas Shrugged. You'd like it, it's got a lot of trains and money involved. But it has a lot of good lessons in it. The biggest of which is that evil only exists if it's allowed to exist."

She glared at Seifer, Rai and Fuu, "these posers aren't exactly evil, but they're bullies and thugs, and if you let people like that have their way, then that's evil. And a person who allows evil to be done without doing anything about it might as well be evil himself."

"Well…just be careful," said Olette. For some reason, she felt that she could trust Nessie.

"I always try to be," said Nessie, while Seifer, Rai and Fuu got ready for the match. Nessie smiled at Hayner and the others, "I'll be alright. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"Just be careful," Olette said again.

"And kick their butts!" said Pence.

"What he said," remarked Hayner.

"Gladly," said Nessie. She then walked to the middle of the Sandlot, where Seifer and his toadies were waiting, "alright, you carpet lickers, let's get to it."

"Prepare to be dominated!" said Seifer.

"Total ownage!" said Fuu.

"We're gonna tear you a new one, ya' know?" said Rai.

"Bring it," said Nessie as she held up her bat.

"Ready…go!" shouted the official.

"Kick her ass!" shouted Seifer. Rai and Fuu moved to Nessie's left and right, then attacked her at the same time. Nessie stood her ground and easily blocked their strikes.

"What are you numbskulls doing!" Seifer shouted, "she's just one little girl!"

"Thing's aren't always what they seem!" said a grinning Nessie. She then struck Rai hard in his stomach, stunning him and, surprisingly, knocked off all of his orbs, which Nessie scooped up before Fuu or Seifer could react.

Nessie then struck Fuu down and knocked off all of her orbs as well, which she scooped up before Seifer could react.

"Looks like it's just you and me, tough guy," said Nessie as she winked at Seifer.

"You little bitch!" snapped Seifer. He rushed at Nessie and furiously attacked her, yet she kept blocking him, "I'll clean your clock!"

"Clean this!" said Nessie as she bashed Seifer on the head, knocking him to the ground and scattering all of his orbs into the air. Nessie then caught them all before they touched the ground.

"Having collected all of her opponents orbs," said the official, "the winner is clearly Nessie!"

"You did it!" exclaimed Hayner, Pence and Olette as they ran over to Nessie.

"That was awesome!" said Hayner, "super awesome!"

"You've got mad skills!" said Pence.

"You're definitely gonna win the next tournament!" said Olette.

At that time Seifer and his cronies were getting up, "how could we lose like that?" Seifer asked.

"There's no way we could lose like that, ya' know?" Rai said.

"Inconceivable!" said Fuu.

"Well if you're not happy with losing," said Nessie, "we can go again."

Seifer, Rai and Fuu looked at each other, then at Nessie, then they ran for it, heading towards Market Street.

"That's right!" said Pence after them, "run away like the cowards you are!"

"You're right about bullies," said Hayner to Nessie, "you can't let them have their way. You got to stand up to them."

"I know," said Nessie in a slightly depressed manner, "I just wish I hadn't done it like that."

"What's wrong?" Olette asked.

"I was showing off just now," said Nessie, "and I'm not supposed to show off like that. I got my family and friends in a lot of trouble this one time, all because I was showing off. Nobody's supposed to know how strong and fast I am."

"What's wrong with showing off?" Pence asked, "if you got it, flaunt it."

"Not when it could lead to the deaths of those you care more than your own life for," said Nessie in a serious manner, "where I'm from, you can get torn apart for showing off."

"Why?" Hayner asked.

Nessie looked at them as if she really wanted to talk about it, but something was preventing her from speaking. Not like she was under a spell or was being hindered by outside forces, but more like she was honor bound to keep a deadly secret that could destroy her if the truth were let out.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," said Olette in a reassuring manner, "everyone's entitled to some secrets."

"It's not that I want to keep this secret," said Nessie, "but you guys could end up in trouble as well if I tell you, and believe me, you don't want to know what kind of trouble I'm talking about."

"You've made your point," said Hayner, "some secrets should stay secret."

"But that doesn't mean we can't still be friends," said Pence.

"And we'd be poor friends if we didn't invite you over for dinner," said Olette, "we're having 4-cheese pasta over at my home tonight."

"And after dinner we can all go for Sea Salt Ice Cream," said Pence.

"I've never heard of Sea Salt Ice Cream," said Nessie.

"Well you're in for a treat," said Hayner, "'cause you haven't lived until you've tried it."

* * *

><p>…New Hollow Bastion…Now…<p>

"The preparations for the attacks are nearly completed, great one," said one of the lesser Hakonians to Maleficent as she sat on her dark throne, "the searchers will soon be ready to seek out The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis."

"The order to depart has been given," said Maleficent, "as soon as all is ready, they are to find this talisman that Gideon Graves wishes destroyed. As for the other item that Gideon desires," she called up an image of Kairi and Aiden, "the waif and the Alchemist have been located on the former Hollow Bastion."

Just then Pete walked in with Xorat, formerly Pantyhose Taro, now a Nobody completely in thrall to Maleficent. Xorat had white hair and pale orange eyes. He wore a green and purple martial artist outfit.

"This chump won't wait until you're available, oh great and terrible boss lady," said Pete.

"If my mistress wishes to send me away," said Xorat, "I will leave," he knelt before Maleficent, "but I ask only to say what I must say to you, oh mistress of all evil."

"Speak, Xorat," said Maleficent, "what is it that you have to say that is so important?"

"There have been whispers that the Keyblade Wielder known as Kairi has been marked by our new demon allies," said Xorat, "that the demon leader, Gideon, covets Kairi. I beg your leave, great one, to lead the mission to capture Kairi. Say the word, and I will present the little bitch before you."

"Bold words, my dear Xorat," said Maleficent as she walked down from her throne, "you are still young in your new life as a Nobody. What guarantee can you give me that your powers can defeat the Keyblade Brats?"

"Just show me the brats!" snapped Xorat, "and I will destroy them with my bare hands!" large metal gauntlets appeared on his hands. The gauntlets were colored green and black and were covered in spikes and blades, "or rather, with these hands. And then there is this," at his waist appeared an orange bullwhip that ended with a multi-spiked scourge.

"I do not doubt your fighting prowess," said Maleficent, "what is in question is your maturity. In your human life you were consumed by hate and rage over your unfortunately humiliating birth name. That hate and rage still exists in you, and I doubt that you can control yourself when you see your enemies."

"I remember hating the Keyblade Brats," said Xorat, "yet there is one I hate even more. Soon I will be powerful enough to destroy that gender-bending freak, Ranma Saotome. But for now, I am ready to face the brats.

"On the other hand, having been reformed, with a new name no less, I have begun to understand prudence and patience. If my mistress says that I need further training, then yes, I will wait."

"Then return to your training, my friend," said Maleficent, "you will not have long to wait. Soon you will have your chance to prove yourself."

"I live only to serve you, Maleficent," said Xorat. He bowed and left the room.

Just then The Negotiator, a demon in human form, walked in. It looked like an average human in a pinstripe suit and carried a leather briefcase. "Maleficent," said The Negotiator, "I hear that your forces are ready to begin searching for The Talisman."

"Indeed," said Maleficent, "the masses of Heartless, Nobodies and Hakonians are being assembled as we speak. Soon they will be ready to scour the worlds for the talisman, as well as secure the two Keyblade Wielders, Kairi and Aiden."

"That's assumin' we can get all those Heartless and Nobodies out to the worlds," said Pete, "That Sora sealed all those Keyholes. The worlds won't let so many dark things onto them anymore."

"That's where Mr. Graves begins to uphold his end of the bargain," said The Negotiator, "as I speak, the shielding effects of the Keyholes are being undermined. It will only be temporary, but for a long enough time, you can send as many Heartless and Nobodies out to the worlds as you wish.

"Mr. Graves also wishes to express another addition to the bargain. Once he has Kairi, then he will provide you , oh mistress of all evil, with the means to permanently negate the effects of the Keyholes. The universe will be yours to cover with darkness."

"Excellent," said Maleficent, "consider the waif already the property of Mr. Graves."

"He'll be pleased to hear that," said The Negotiator, "on another, more serious matter, I've heard that you've entrusted Hakonians with this most dire of tasks. Forgive me for offering what could be considered unwarranted criticism, but are you sure it is wise to use Hakonians for this mission?"

"What'cha talkin' 'bout, demon!" Pete asked, "Maleficent's been using Hakonians for her dirty work for months. Why shouldn't she use 'em?"

"Well," said The Negotiator in a nonchalant tone, "from a nonobjective point of view, one would see that the Hakonians have proven themselves to be rather unreliable for the most part.

"Case in point; Maleficent has entrusted several young Hakonians, young by their standards, to throw worlds into the darkness, to find new breeds of Heartless, and most of all, to destroy The Keyblade Wielders. Several times these young Hakonians have clashed with The Keyblade Wielders, and each time they failed, sometimes with one of the Hakonians losing their lives. Three of the seven are dead, while two have gone rogue and the other two are being forced to wed.

"Then there was that fiasco of a mission in which over a thousand Hakonians were sent to another universe to obtain Uridium for the Nobody-controlling items. They were charged with a great task and failed miserably, while the brats fly free to wreck further havoc against the darkness."

"What is your point, demon?" one of the Hakonian attendants asked, "are you implying that we're not up to the tasks set before the mistress of all evil!"

"Are you saying that you demons are better than us?" another of the Hakonians asked, "I'll have you know that our empire once controlled vast hordes of your kind! You were the slaves that licked our boots!"

"And what did that get you?" The Negotiator asked, "your empire fell and your race was reduced to living as nomads, scrounging on the fringes of civilizations in order to survive, only to wind up servants of a greater darkness. The answer to your question is yes, my kind are better than yours; always have been and all ways will be."

"Such insolence would have condemned you to death, demon!" snapped one of the Hakonians.

"You cannot do anything to me, you worthless bastard!" said The Negotiator, "I am a guest in Maleficent's house, and as such I have her countenance. Besides, the last thing any of us wish is for us to destroy each other."

"True," said Maleficent, "now that I have considered the matter, I believe that the Hakonians are not worthy of this task, or of further tasks of such high importance. I hereby declare that no further important missions shall be given to the Hakonians. They shall be reassigned to menial tasks of no important matters. I will hear no argument, any of such will be considered insubordination and dealt with without mercy!"

"But great one, if we Hakonians are no longer to carry out your bidding to further the darkness," said one of the attendants, "then who will?"

At that The Negotiator stepped forward, "my comrades selfless volunteer. With your approval, great Maleficent," he opened his briefcase and took out several dossier files, "I have the resumes of several candidates in which you will find quite up to the task."

Maleficent took the files and began reading them, "yes…yes, these individuals will do quite nicely," she used her dark magic to hold up six files, "especially these. Their history is quite intriguing."

"I expected that you would be pleased by those six," said The Negotiator, "each of them were human once, humans with dark hearts, yet still hoped for love. They all coveted the same woman, and when she rejected them, they bound themselves to Gideon in mind, body and soul, and heart of course."

"Then it shall be so," said Maleficent, "these six, and others, shall lead the search for The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis, as well as the capture of Kairi and Aiden."

"All shall be done as you ask, oh great and terrible Maleficent," said The Negotiator. He bowed and left the room.

"What of us?" one of the Hakonian attendants asked.

"What you do is no longer my concern," said Maleficent, "from now on, you are little more than grunts and slaves to me, so go carry out some menial task, before I decide to do something you will find awful."

"We live only to serve you, Maleficent," said the Hakonian attendants in a miserable tone. They bowed and left. But one of them passed next to Pete and stopped to tie his boot. But this was only cover to use a summoning spell to teleport something into Pete's pocket. He realized that magic was used and looked at the Hakonian, whom winked at Pete before leaving the room.

Pete then looked at Maleficent, "what do you want me to do?"

"I still have use of you," said Maleficent, "you are to go with the demons who will capture Kairi. I care not how long it takes, but the girl will be brought here. Already we have half the promised Uridium and Synthesis of the control items has begun, but the girl is essential to acquiring the rest of the Uridium."

"Don't worry about Kairi and Aiden, boss lady," said Pete as he saluted, "I'll go get her and bring her back, even if it kills me."

"I may hold you to that," said Maleficent, "now go."

"You can count on ol' Pete!" said the moronic minion. He saluted again and left the room.

"I may have to dispose of that one yet, my pet," said Maleficent to her raven, "I grow weary of his bungling."

Out in the hallway, safe from Maleficent's prying eyes, Pete felt in his pocket for the object that the Hakonian put there. He pulled out a small note and read it. It only had an address, one of the buildings in the dark city below the castle, and a insisting line saying that he should be there in twenty minutes, followed by another line that said that he should destroy the note.

"Looks like they want to talk to ol' Pete. Well," he then ripped the not into small pieces, then threw them into a garbage chute, "better not keep them waiting." He then hurried for the castle exit.

**The end of chapter 1.**

Next chapter finds Pete in the middle of a grand conspiracy, while Sora and his friends learn more about Jacob, and Hayner and his crew learn more about Nessie. Later on, both groups end up meeting a new extraordinary friend. But there's so much more going on than meets the eye, and just what is the talisman that the baddies are so hung up about? Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie, see you next time!


	2. Chapter 2: Tripple Backstories

Last time found Sora and the gang arriving on Radiant Garden. Cid wasn't happy at all at the damage _The Intrepid Heart_ had suffered on her first voyage, but he assured our heroes that he could fix the ship. As Kairi got reacquainted with the world she originally came from, our heroes learned that not only was Hercules and Mulan on the world, but so was a strange man who fell out of the sky not too long ago. That man is Jacob Black, who has the power to turn into a wolf.

Backing up to the previous day on Twilight Town, Hayner and his friends got to know the girl who fell out of the sky not too long ago, one Renesmee Cullen, or just Nessie to her friends. She quickly amazed Hayner, Pence and Olette by mastering Struggle in a blink of an eye, as well as completely dominating Seifer, Rai and Fuu.

Elsewhere, Maleficent prepared to give the order to send out the Hakonians, Heartless and Nobodies to terrorize the worlds and search for the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis, while also grabbing Kairi and Aiden. The nefarious Negotiator, a demon who represents the diabolical Gideon Graves, convinced Maleficent to cast the Hakonians aside and let the demons do the work. Outraged at being rendered obsolete, the Hakonians invited Pete into joining them to talk about something. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 2: Tripple Backstories**

Pete hurried through the streets of the dark city, constantly checking his watch to make sure he wouldn't be late for whatever it was the Hakonians wanted with him.

"Gotta hurry!" said Pete as he saw that he was still several blocks from the meeting place. He began running faster, not caring if anyone saw him. Then again, the only creatures out on the streets besides himself were countless Heartless, and who were they going to tell?

"Good thing Maleficent trusts me enough to stay out of trouble," said Pete, "otherwise she'd be watching my every move. Or maybe she things I'm too dumb to get into trouble. Doesn't matter, just so long as I gets to do what I haveta do."

Finally, Pete reached the building in question. He ran in and crashed against the wall in the hallway.

"Oh man," panted Pete as he picked himself up, "I really got to lose a few pounds, that'll make the wife happy. I just know she's gonna put me on a diet.""

Just then several lesser Hakonians appeared, including the one who teleported the note inside Pete's pocket, "were you followed?"

"How should this dipstick know?" another of the Hakonians asked, "he's got less brains than a worm."

"Hey, I got a brain!" said an annoyed Pete, "I just forget to use it sometimes, that's all. Anyway, you guys can relax; Maleficent ain't interested in weather or not I gets inta trouble."

"Maleficent may leave you alone," said the first Hakonian, "but what about the demons? And that pinstriped bastard, The Negotiator? He has Maleficent's ear now, so he could have sent someone after the fat cat."

"We'll just have to take the risk," said another Hakonian, "all the anti-eavesdropping spells are in place, so we can begin."

"Begin what?" Pete asked.

"Begin discussing the future of the Hakonian race, of course," said a fourth Hakonian. He was tall with short red hair and pale yellow eyes and wore black wizards robes.

"I am Falkon Everdark," said the Hakonian, "it was my wish for you to be here, Pete."

"Why's that?" Pete asked.

"Because you may be the only one who can get my people out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into," said Falkon Everdark, "come, the meeting is about to begin."

Pete followed Falkon ever dark and the other Hakonians to a large room where nearly 30 other Hakonians were sitting.

"What's he doing here?" one of the seated Hakonians asked, "Falkon Everdark, why did you bring Maleficent's lapdog?"

"He's more of a fat cat," said another Hakonian. At that the others laughed.

"Don't call me fat!" said Pete. He tapped his oversized belly, "I may be a little heavy, and the wife is gonna put me on a diet, no doubt, but I ain't fat."

"You're still a danger to us!" said one of the Hakonians.

"He'll report us to Maleficent and we'll all be tortured to death!" another Hakonian shouted, "he'll tell, like the lapdog he is!"

"I ain't no dog!" spat Pete, "and what Maleficent don't know won't hurt her. I know when to keep my mouth shut."

"But can you keep it shut when put to question?" another Hakonian asked, a woman with long black hair, one indigo eye and one green, and wearing a military uniform with general's stars on her collar.

"If he doesn't," said Falkon Everdark, "then he'll regret it. I'm willing to trust this one, Tylek Bladewraith, he won't betray us."

"He'd better not," said the woman, Tylek Bladewraith as she pulled out a vicious-looking curved dagger, "or I'll eviscerate him, slowly."

"Uh…don't worry about ol' Pete," said the lackey as he sweated nervously, "I won't tell Maleficent what's going. But what _is_ going on? What'cha all up to?"

"We've been discussing our situation," said Falkon Everdark, "ever since we Hakonians have started serving Maleficent, our numbers have been decreasing at an alarming rate, and there isn't that many of us left to begin with. First Ulrik, then Konrad and Erika. And just now with Grekor, Ikura and Orkal, not to mention a thousand of our comrades. And then there's the many servants that Maleficent had 'discharged' for displeasing her in one way or another."

"What'cho talking about?" Pete asked, "I didn't know anything about Maleficent killing any Hakonians."

"That's because our comrades were eliminated quietly," said Tylek Bladewraith, "There were less than five thousand of us when we settled on this world. Now there's just over three thousand. We're a dieing race, and with the way Maleficent is throwing us into the meat grinder, we'll be extinct before too long.

"And now she's decreed that we're no longer reliable to carry out missions, that we're to be given nothing but menial tasks! I was supposed to lead the mission to capture the two Keyblade Wielders, Kairi and Aiden. I cared not why the demons wanted Kairi, or that Maleficent wanted Aiden in order to trawl his mind for information. I only desired to carry out the mission, for that is all that any Hakonian of my social standing can want in life."

"I don't get it," said Pete, "aren't you all supposed to be descended from a big empire?"

"We were an empire of darkness," said Tylek Bladewrath, "a empire that ruled entire galaxies. But only a handful of us got to enjoy the full benefits of that empire."

"We had a strict cast system that survived the downfall of the empire," said Falkon Everdark, "A true hegemony, where a very few 'elite' warriors and dark magic users would have absolute rule over the rest of the race. In truth all Hakonians possesses dark powers of relative equal strength, some a bit stronger than others, but in the long run we're almost the same."

"But those who see themselves better than the rest seized power when we were still confined to one planet," said Tylek Bladewraith, "they were the ones who created the empire and spread its dark grasp across galaxies and lead our race to victory against the many foes we fought.

"The Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarians, Ice Warriors, Zygons, they all tried to take what was ours. Those who saw themselves the Hakonian elite lead us into battle, but it was those they thought lesser of them, the common Hakonians, it was we who did the majority of the fighting. Oh sure, one of the elite would now and then step into battle in order to further his or her personal glory and power, but it was our blood that was shed that purchased victory after victory.

"Yet it was all these wars, the countless Hakonians who died all for the greed of the minority, that truly weakened the empire. So when The Doctor and his companions arrived on our home world, Hakonian Prime, the empire was all but ready to collapse on its own. Revolution was brewing among the masses. We, the commoners, were nearly ready to topple those who had us enslaved for so long.

"But then The Doctor ruined everything with his meddling. The empire collapsed. Millions of common Hakonians and hundreds of elite Hakonians died. We were forced to wander the stars for thousands of years, all the while our numbers kept dwindling, until only those who arrived on The World that Never Was were left."

"And now we're all but extinct," said Falkon Everdark, "but there is still hope for our people."

"Oh," said Pete, "you mean Nikolai and Katarina. Maleficent's making them get married so they can have kids." At that he laughed cruely, "good luck with that, those two kids hate each other."

"That's not what we're talking about at all, you stupid fur ball!" snapped one of the Hakonians, "Nikolai and Katarina may be next in line to produce the next leader of the race, but that leader will be of the bloodlines of the tyrants who lead our race to ruin."

"If our people are to have a future," said Falkon Everdark, "then the leader needs to be not the offspring, but the parents. We had had a plan set in motion years ago to produce such leaders by infiltrating some of our own into the ranks of the elite. Only two survived long enough to have children, and of those children, only four of their children were still alive when we settled on this world."

"But who are they?" Pete asked.

"You've met them already," said Falkon, "you did when Maleficent sent you out to find minions. You returned to New Hollow Bastion with seven young but elite Hakonians, and four of them were our best hopes for the future."

"Oh, those guys," said Pete, "but wait, if Ulrik, Erika and Konrad are dead, then who's left?"

"The four that we had so much hope on were Ulrik, Erika, Reddik and Rakel," said Tylek, "and since Ulrik and Erika are dead, and considering that the two of them hated each other in life, our future resides in the arms of the lovers, Reddik and Rakel."

"They did make a nice couple," said Pete, "but they ran away. How are they gonna lead your people then? Even if they do come back, Maleficent's gonna rip them to pieces."

"Ah, yes, that is the conundrum," said Falkon, "how to find and return them without suffering Maleficent's wrath. There's where you come in, Pete. We know that you met with Reddik and Rakel not too long ago, after the fiasco on Metamore. They returned to the castle briefly to recover their possessions and to say goodbye to you."

"Yeah, they did that," said Pete, "so what? They could be anywhere by now…wait…if you're askin' me to go find them, forget about it! I'm supposed to go to the old Hollow Bastion and kidnap two of those Keyblade Brats! I can't go running around the universe looking for Reddik and Rakel."

"We're not asking you to go looking for our lost leaders," said Tylek, "we had planned to send some of our own out to search for Reddik and Rakel. We had every precaution taken into account, so that Maleficent and the other elite bastards wouldn't know what we were up to.

"But now that Maleficent has all but abandoned us, and the number of elite Hakonians reduced even further, we can definitely send out search parties without attracting unwanted attention."

"Then what do you want me for?" Pete asked.

"All we ask of you is that when the time comes," said Falkon, "when we find Reddik and Rakel and bring them back to save our race from extinction, that we have your support."

"What…you want me to fight against Maleficent?" a shocked Pete asked.

"If it comes to that," said Falkon, "and the remaining elite Hakonians as well. If there is to be fighting, then yes, we will need you to stand with us to save our race from dieing out."

"No, no way!" said Pete, "I ain't fighting Maleficent, and no way am I going against them other Hakonians."

"Why not?" Tylek asked, "you went against her wishes before. You helped Rakel when Reddik asked you to."

"That was different," said Pete, "Maleficent told me to go with Rakel when she was looking for the brats when they were jumping around creation. I only looked after Rakel for her own good."

"And if Maleficent asked you to abandon Rakel," said Tylek, "you would have, right?"

"I guess so," said Pete, "but that don't mean anything! I can't betray Maleficent! I owe her!"

"Ah, yes," said Falkon, "I've heard of the incident when you were banished from Disney Town and marooned in the depths of limbo. You tried to win a festival contest by posing as both a masked super hero and a masked super villain; Captain Justice and Captain Dark."

"Yeah," laughed Pete, "those were good times. I think I still have those costumes, and I'll bet they still fit."

"And then there's the fact that Maleficent is holding your family hostage," said Falkon, "your wife, Peg, and your children, PJ and Pistol. What if I were to tell you that we could ensure their safety in return for your support?"

"You can do that?" Pete asked, "you can get the wife and kids outta here and get them somewhere safe?"

"All we ask is that you will help us," said Falkon, "will you help us save ourselves, and in the process, save your family?"

"You bet I'll do it!" said Pete, "just tell me what to do and when to do it!"

"We'll contact you when the time is right," said Falkon, "just be ready to move hard and fast."

"You can count on me!" said Pete confidently, "it'll be a piece of cake and a slice of pie!"

"For your sake, you'd better be able to do so," said an irate Tylek, "too many of our people have died because of the selfishness and stupidity of others. If you cannot keep your end of the bargain, if you betray us, there will be just enough of your body left to identify you, understand!"

"Uh…perfectly!" said Pete. He looked at his watch, "oh, look at the time! I'm supposed to be getting ready to kidnap Kairi and Aiden! I'd better get going before Maleficent wonders where I am!"

"Then get going before she gets suspicious," said Falkon, "and don't let anyone else know what's going on."

Pete saluted and ran out of the building. "The wife's definitely gonna make me give up meat for a while."

"Somehow I feel that we've just signed the death warrant for our race," said Tylek, "how can we be sure that trusting that bungling buffoon with our future will succeed?"

"All we can do is hope that we will have a future," said Falkon, "Maleficent has other resources than just that fat cat. The only thing we can do is make sure that she doesn't know what we're doing, and to work quickly." He addressed the other assembled Hakonians, "you have your search parameters. Gather your teams and find Reddik and Rakel!"

The other Hakonians saluted and left.

* * *

><p>…Radiant Garden…<p>

"So let me get this straight," said Sora after he and the others listened to Jacob's story, "your tribe, the Quileute's, they have the power to turn into wolves, but you're not werewolves. And your people get this power when the tribe is threatened by vampires, what you call 'Cold Ones.'"

"That's about right," said Jacob.

"But not all vampires are evil on your world," said Riku, "some of them are quite good."

"Yes," said Jacob, "my great-grandfather was the leader of his pack, and he made a treaty with the Cullen coven, or family as they like to be called. The Cullens only drink animal blood and refrain from killing humans, for the most part. A few of them are definitely have human blood of their hands, but that was long before I came around.

"The treaty my great-grandfather made clearly marked out my tribe's territory. The Cullens could do whatever they wanted, so long as they stayed away from our lands and they refrained from killing humans anywhere near our lands, and that includes the town of Forks."

"And for a long time the peace was kept," said Kairi, "but then something happened that changed everything, or someone; Bella Swan."

"Have you ever loved someone so much that it nearly killed you?" Jacob, "that happened to me a lot."

"I'll bet it's quite a story," said Tess.

"If it were a book," said Jacob, "it'd take about four volumes to give it justice. I'll make it short. My dad and Bella's dad have been best friends for a long time, so Bella and I were friends when we were kids. Her parents were divorced, with her dad, Charlie, being the town's police chief and her mom…well, let's just say that Rene is…special in her own semi-crazy way.

"Anyway, Bella moved to Forks when she was 17 to spend some time with Charlie. I gave her an old pickup truck I'd been working on as a gift. I forgot to mention that I like working on cars and motorcycles."

"Any chance you could take a look at my wheels?" Riku asked, "I can't figure out what's wrong with it and I don't want to pay so much for a mechanic."

"You didn't tell us that you were having car troubles," said Sora.

"You didn't ask," said Riku. He then looked at Jacob, "so, what happened to Bella?"

"Like I said," said Jacob, "it's a long story, so here's the short version. On Bella's first day at school, she meets Edward Cullen and she was instantly drawn to him, but he tried his best to get her to stay away.

"Edward has been a vampire since 1918. He's had that long to get used to drinking animal blood so he could be around humans without drawing attention. But he never saw, or smelled, anything like Bella. A vampire's sense of smell is so strong that a single drop of blood can usually drive them into a feeding frenzy."

"Bella's scent was so desirable to Edward that he nearly killed her that first day, but he didn't, and while I'll never say it to his face, I'm eternally glad he didn't. He was strong enough to resist his vampire instincts to feed on humans and acted civil around Bella, but he did his best to get her to stop being interested in him.

"I'll give Edward credit for this, he's anything but uninteresting. Bella was drawn to Edward by more than his looks. She was even more drawn to him when he saved her life from an out of control car," he laughed, "in those days, Bella was one disaster waiting to happen after another; I'm talking about her being an accident-prone kluts who couldn't go for a walk without tripping over her shoelaces.

"So then Edward saved Bella from being crushed by an out of control car, but he acted like he didn't want to do it. He wanted her to leave him alone, but she was hooked on him, thought she didn't know how deep yet. Edward saved Bella's life again a while later, and after that she figured out that he was a vampire. They both then realized that they were both in love.

"To make a long story short, Bella was so in love with Edward that she wanted to become a vampire, even at the risk of losing herself, her humanity, in the process. But Edward didn't want her to be a vampire, to be a bloodthirsty monster, so when the chance came, he left her in order to protect her.

"He didn't count on how devastated Bella became when he left. The only thing that got her out of her downward spiral was my helping her fix up some motorcycles. We became much closer friends, and if things kept going that way, we would have ended up together.

"But then my shape-shifting power asserted itself, and I found myself being able to become a wolf. I was in someone else's pack at the time, and the pack always obeys the Alpha, always, we can't help it. Everyone in the pack is linked. When we're in wolf mode, we can hear each others thoughts, and when you hear the Alpha's thoughts, you have to obey.

"We were under orders to tell nobody outside the tribe. Our own people already knew, but white men, they have a habit of being afraid of what they didn't understand, and if they knew that we could turn into wolves…you can imagine what would happen."

"They'd hunt you down like freaks," said Tess.

"People tend to hate what they fear," said Riku, "it's terrible, but it's part of what makes us human."

"Well some of us don't have that luxury," said Jacob, "especially me. I was ordered to stay away from Bella. We already knew about her relationship with Edward, but I was willing to let the past be in the past. But I also knew that I would be a danger to Bella. After we start turning into wolves, we really have to control our emotions, 'cause getting angry can trigger the change.

"The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt Bella in any way, and having a power that I couldn't control all the time would put her at risk, so I tried to get her to stay away, but she wouldn't let go. One thing led to another and she found out about us shape shifters, and she was okay with it."

"Well of course she was okay with it," said Kairi, "considering that she was already okay with vampires."

"Well everything seemed to be okay with the both of us," said Jacob, "but then Bella was still obsessed with Edward, and one thing lead to another, resulting in the two of them getting back together. He was nearly as messed up about leaving Bella as she was about him leaving, so they wound up together again.

"It took me a while to get over the fact that she choose him, but I had to, 'cause after one really painful battle with newborn vampires, they got married."

"Newborn vampires?" Sora asked.

"That's why Edward didn't want to change Bella," said Jacob, "newborn vampires have only one thing on their mind; blood, blood and more blood, and that's pretty much all they'd think about for their first few months. Edward didn't want to see Bella become a bloodthirsty maniac, but she didn't want to keep growing old and eventually dieing while Edward stayed the same forever.

"They got married, and I was pretty upset, 'cause Bella told me that getting married and a proper honeymoon, with everything that went with it, would be the last few things she did before losing her humanity. I was really messed up about the fact that the next time I saw her, she would be one of them, a blood-sucking monster. I knew that Edward and the Cullens would do their best to keep Bella's thirst under control, but I would have lost my best friend forever.

"You'd be as surprised as I was when I found out that Bella had come back from her honeymoon still human, but pregnant."

"What?" Tess asked, "she got knocked up? Who was the father?"

"Edward, you dipstick!" said Aiden, "even in The State we had legends about half-human, half-vampire hybrids. Of course, they all turned out to be Alchemy experiments gone horribly wrong, but that's another thing."

"Well that's what happened," said Jacob, "Bella was pregnant with Edward's child, though everyone was shocked since we all thought that vampires can't have children. What was even more shocking was how fast the child grew inside Bella. Within a few weeks, Bella looked like she was almost at 9 months. What was even more freaky, especially to me, was that Bella began craving human blood, and she really needed it for herself and the baby. Carlisle got her donated human blood and it kept both Bella and the baby strong.

"But then things went really wrong. There were complications and Bella almost lost the baby. She was already hurt from several broken bones, the baby grew so fast that her body didn't have time to adjust. But then the baby had to claw her way out of Bella in order to live. Bella nearly died in order to bring little Nessie into the world.

"Edward saved her by injecting vampire venom directly into her heart, and it started the change. It's not the bite that changes humans into vampires, it's their venom. Carlisle told me that vampires are genetically different from humans, and their venom alters DNA. So Bella got a huge dose of venom, which also has healing properties, and three days later, Bella woke up as a vampire.

"But things were alright, she was still her. Sure, she had the almost insane desire for blood, but she was in control, she was still Bella, my best friend. We're still not sure why she didn't lose herself; maybe it was all that venom injected in her heart, or it was her experience with vampires and that she knew what would happen to her when she changed. Whatever it was, Bella's mind was still her own, and to this day, she's still herself, having never killed a human being.

"As for Nessie, that's something else entirely. We wolves, we have this thing called imprinting. It's like seeing your soul mate and are instantly bonded with her, like your whole world revolves around her, or him in Leah Clearwater's case, thought she hasn't imprinted on anyone, yet.

"When I first saw Nessie for the first time, we were forever linked. Imprinting is instinctual and noting I could do could have stopped it. In that one instant, when she was barely minutes old, I was hers and she was mine."

"How long ago was this?" Sora asked.

"About five years ago," said Jacob, "Nessie, she's something you'll never forget. First of all, being half vampire makes her different in a lot of ways. Her heart pumps blood and her eyes, they're the same shade of brown as Bella's were. Nessie's also smart, really smart, and a really fast learner. She could walk and talk inside a week.

"Oh, she also ages really fast, but it's slowing down, more and more all the time. Carlisle says that she'll age normally for a while after her sixth birthday, then it'll slow down more and more, eventually stopping after she's seven, by then she'll look 17 forever, which is fine with me, 'cause shape shifters, we can live as long as we want."

"Wouldn't you get bored after a while?" Sora asked, "I'd be bored if I could life for a long, long, long time."

"I'll worry about that when I do get bored," said Jacob, "but for now, I have absolutely no intention of dieing."

"That's cool, I guess," said Kairi, "but what about Nessie?"

"She' got the best of both worlds," said Jacob, "she got Bella's eyes and the same bronze hair as Edward, but it's long and curly. Her skin is pale like a vampire but has color sometimes, and is just as indestructible. She's strong and fast, and she's got a power that's the opposite of both Bella and Edward. Edward can hear people's thoughts, but with Bella, her power was with her when she was still human.

"Edward can hear the thoughts of everyone, except Bella. Not only was her mind silent to Edward, but other vampire powers didn't work on her. When she became immortal, she found out that her mind had its own shield that blocks psychic attacks. Not only that, Bella could use her shield to protect the minds of those around her. It took her a while for her to learn how to a actively use it, but by now, she can extend her shield for up to two miles.

"And for Nessie, she can transmit her thoughts to others just by touching them, and this works on everyone, even Bella."

"Oh, you said that Nessie's power works backwards from what her parents," said Sora, "Edward can hear people's thoughts, so Nessie can send her thoughts."

"Bella can keep stuff out of her mind," said Aiden, "and Nessie can get into any mind."

"How old does Nessie look now?" Namine asked as she got her sketchbook out.

"Carlisle set up a scale that would, we hope, tell how old she looks compared to her actual age. On her first birthday she looked four, on her second, she looked seven and a half, on her third she looked ten and a half, on her fourth she looked thirteen, and her fifth was last week, so now she looks a bit over fifteen."

"Does she look like this?" Naminé asked as she furiously drew a sketch of the girl Jacob had just finished talking about.

"That's her!" said Sora, Riku, Kairi and Aiden all at once.

"How could you know what Nessie looks like?" Jacob asked.

"This is going to sound really strange," said Sora, "but Nessie, Renesmee Cullen, she's the girl that we've been seeing in our dreams for a while."

"It's always in the same rain-soaked forest," said Kairi, "and we're always running after her, but we've never caught up with her, she's so fast."

"And we always feel like we need to talk to her," said Aiden, "and there's also these really big wolves she runs with, so it's reasonable that we called her The Girl Who Runs With Wolves."

"You've been dreaming about her?" Jacob asked, "okay now I'm starting to get worried. She's been dreaming about these weird kids for a while now, weird kids that kinda look like you guys."

"Now I'm getting freaked out," said a disturbed Aiden, "we've been dreaming about a girl who's been dreaming about us."

"This can't be coincidence," said Riku, "there's got to be a reason for it."

"There's one more thing," said Jacob, "In Nessie's dreams, she sees you guys with these really weird but cool swords that pop out of nowhere."

"I wouldn't say they pop out of nowhere," said a grinning Sora. He, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess then summoned their Keyblades, "they're in our hearts."

"Technically I don't have a heart," said Roxas as he summoned his Keyblades, "but I have them."

"Okay, I'm way over my head here," said Jacob, "all I want right now is to find Nessie and get us both home."

"We want to help you find Nessie and get you home as well," said Kairi, "but how did you get here?"

"Demons," said Jacob, "it's all because a bunch of demons tried to kidnap Nessie a while back. They wanted her for their leader, a real bastard who, while he looks normal, is a real monster of the worst kind. He had a horde of demons at his command, plus six other really strong humans with incredible dark powers. It took everything my people and the Cullens had to keep Nessie from the bastards. But it wasn't enough.

"We had to get help from a group of humans who used all sorts of weird ways to fight demons, from real magic to alien science. They used all forms of martial arts and weapons that were infused with magic. They even taught Nessie how to use some magic and to use an enchanted sword that can kill lesser demons with just one strike.

"But even Nessie, with all her talents, she was no match for the enemy leader, whose human name is Gideon Graves. His minions captured Nessie, so my friends and Nessie's family, we ran after her. We caught up with the kidnappers and Nessie just as they were presenting her to Gideon.

"But then Gideon saw Nessie and told the demons that Nessie wasn't the one he was looking for, that they grabbed the wrong girl. He then threw some weird…thing…at Nessie. I tried to get to her and pull her out of the way, but we both got hit by…whatever it was. The next thing I knew, I was here on this world and Nessie was…somewhere else."

"Well she's not going to stay lost for long," said Sora, "we'll find Nessie, count on it!"

"Darn right!" said Donald, while Goofy, Riku, Kairi and the others nodded in agreement.

"And if that bastard Gideon Graves gets in the way," said Tess, "we'll show him a thing or two."

"I hope you guys got the guts to back that up," said Jacob, "'cause Gideon said that he would find the girl he's been looking for, and that he would make her his, no matter what."

"Could this demon master," said Sora, "this Gideon Graves, could he be the one that sent that demon after Kairi?"

"Well if he is," said Kairi, "he's gonna regret messing around with so many people."

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked, "a demon tried to kidnap you as well?"

Before anyone could say anything else, Areith walked in, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"Oh no," said Tess in a sarcastic manner, "we were talking about rainbows and sugary snacks. Of course we were talking about something important!"

"Well if you're going to be rude," said Areith, "then I won't tell you about our other guest who fell out of the sky."

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, "another person from another universe?"

"She appeared out of the sky while Jacob was fighting all those Heartless," said Areith, "she hit her head when she fell onto the ground and has been unconscious. She just woke up a while back and the doctors said she's okay to leave the hospital, so I thought you all would like to meet her."

The door opened and there stood a girl in her mid-teens with long, dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes. She was a bit shorter than Kairi and wore an orange shirt with a green skirt and brown shoes. She had a small leather handbag on her shoulder. In her arms was a reddish-gold pine martin.

The girl regarded Sora and the others with scrutinizing eyes, as if she knew they would be here, "so you're the young heroes who are supposed to save all that exists," she said in an Oxford accent, "I thought you'd all be taller."

"We're tall enough," said Sora, "and yes, we are real heroes, not Junior, real."

"I'll be the judge of that," said the girl as she smiled, "I'm Lyra by the way, Lyra Silvertongue," she then pointed at the pine martin on her shoulder, "this is Pan, short for Pantalaimon. And just so you all know, he can talk."

"Pleased to meet you," said the pine martin, Pantalaimon.

"Uh…likewise," said Sora, while Kairi, Riku and the others nodded in agreement.

"You'll get used to Pan soon enough," said Lyra.

"But will I get used to them," said Pantalaimon as he looked up at Sora and the others, then spoke, "Are you sure that they're the ones The Alethiometer said you need to team up with, Lyra?"

"They're as close as can be," said Lyra. She looked at Sora, "the warrior traveler," then at Riku, "the one who mastered his inner darkness," then at Kairi, "the healing princess," then at Aiden, "the lone alchemist," and then at Tess, "and the invisible freedom fighter."

"How'd you know I can become invisible?" Tess asked in an accusing manner, "just who the hell are you? And what is an Alethiometer?"

"This is an Alethiometer," said Lyra as she pilled out of her side bag what can be described as a golden compass. It was like a large pocket watch that had three small wheels spaced equally along the rim of the device.

"It's beautiful," said Kairi, "but what is it exactly?"

"It tells the truth of things," said Lyra as she sat down and opened the device. Inside where there should either be a compass needle or a clock face were four needles, three small and one much larger. Along the edge were 36 symbols. The larger of the needles was constantly moving, sometimes rotating clockwise, sometimes counterclockwise, and other times it would stop at a symbol for a second or two.

"With this," said Lyra, "I can ask any question and it will tell me the answer. Understanding the answers can be difficult sometimes, but I usually know what the Alethiometer is trying to tell me."

"Any question?" Sora asked, "okay, when Riku, Kairi and I were building our raft, what names did we want to call it? And who won the race to decide the name?"

Lyra turned the three wheels on the edge of the device, each wheel turned one of the needles so they pointed to a different symbol. When she had finished turning the needles to the symbols she wanted, Lyra seemed to go into a trance, gazing at the face of the device with slightly glazed eyes, while Pan also looked at it with equally glazed eyes.

Sora and the others watched as the larger needle spun around the symbols. It would stop at one, then another, sometimes hovering above a symbol for a few seconds, other times completely rotating around all the symbols a few times before stopping at one.

After a minute or so Lyra blinked and her eyes focused again and looked at our heroes, "Sora wanted to name the raft Excalibur, while Riku wanted the name Highwind, and Riku won the race."

"That's right!" said both Sora and Riku.

"I'm not convinced," said Tess, "she could have telepathy, or something."

"Ask me something else then," said Lyra.

"What did I give Sora when he went to stop Xehanort's Heartless?" Kairi asked.

Lyra chose three more symbols and went into the trance again. This time it lasted two minutes before she gave the answer, "a good luck charm you made out of sea shells. He returned it to you when you returned to your world. A while later, you each exchanged different good luck charms."

"She's right," said an astonished Kairi as she took out the Thalsala shell charm Sora made for her, while Sora held the charm Kairi made for him.

"I'm still not convinced," said Tess. She glared at Lyra, "alright, miracle girl, answer me this; what did I do with my fathers' razor?"

After a few minutes, Lyra had the answer, "you threw it away, down a bottomless shaft, after renouncing revenge for his death."

"Okay," said a slightly disturbed but amazed Tess, "I'm convinced."

"I was convinced the second she showed up," said Aiden as he looked at Lyra with awe and respect, "Guys, Lyra is the fourth Princess of Heart!"

"Are you sure?" a shocked Sora asked.

"She definitely has a pure heart," said Kairi, "I can sense it all the way from here."

"What's a princess of heart?" Jacob asked.

"It means I have a pure heart," said Lyra, "I should know what it means, since a few days ago the Alethiometer said that's what I am, what I've always been, but I had to become it through my own free will, that my choices in life determined if I would be that person or not."

"Believe me," said Pan, "we've been through enough insane situations that would twist anyone into madness, but we pulled through."

"Oh yeah?" Donald asked, "What's your part in all of this?"

"Pan means more to me than you could ever know," said Lyra, "he's my soul, or daemon as they're called on my world. Pan and I come from a place were people's souls take the form of animals."

"A world of airships and armored bears," said Aiden in a slightly distant tone, "where their church and false god once held near absolute power, before that power was broken because of a choice you and another made, a choice of love."

"That's right," said an astonished Lyra, "I had to make a choice; either follow my heart and fall in love for the first time, or remain a innocent but mindless child forever, and that choice saved free will throughout the multiverse. But how did you know those things about my world?"

"I saw your face in a vision," said Aiden, "you and Pan were on a large stain glass window, and you had the Alethiometer in your hands. All around you in the picture were strangely designed buildings, strange by my standards, as well as strange technology powered by anbaric power, what we call electricity. You have almost the same things as other worlds do, just different names.

"Your daemons are indeed your souls, and that with children, their daemons can change shapes, becoming any animal they wish. They settle on one shape when you begin to grow up, like around age 13 or so."

"That's right," said Lyra, "what else do you know?"

"My vision also showed polar bears wearing armor made of metal derived from meteorites, and that you were friends with the king of the armored bears, who gave you the name Silvertongue when you deceived the false bear king."

"Iorek Byrnison," said a smiling Lyra, "yes, he is very precious to me."

"And also in my vision," said Aiden, "there was this…Dust…yes, that's what it was, Dust. You and several others discovered that Dust is conscious, alive in its own manner. Dust settles on people and gives them wisdom, intelligence and imagination, while our creativity and choices makes more Dust. Without Dust, people, all people, would be mindless zombies."

"That's right," said Lyra.

"This is very enlightening and all," said Jacob, "but what's that got to do with you?"

"She's one of seven girls who have pure hearts," said Kairi, "and Maleficent is after them," she looked at Lyra, "if you're here, then there's a good chance that Maleficent knows as well."

"Right now Maleficent is more concerned with ensuring her power over Nobodies," said Lyra. She tapped The Alethiometer, "I did my homework before coming here, and I came here through a mix of magic and experimental theology, science as you call it. I know all about The Heartless and Nobodies, as well as Maleficent, the Hakonians, and the demons that want you, Kairi."

"If you know about them," said Sora, "then tell me, why do they want Kairi?"

"Gideon," said Jacob through gritted teeth, "he wants Kairi."

"Maleficent may be the mistress of all evil," said Lyra, "but the real master is Gideon Graves. That's why I'm here. To help turn the tide against the darkness before it's too late."

* * *

><p>…Twilight Town…17 hours earlier…<p>

"See, I told you you'd like the view," said Olette. She, Hayner, Pence and Nessie were sitting atop the clock tower, sharing Sea Salt Ice Cream and enjoying the sights of the whole town.

"It's awesome," said Nessie as she finished her Sea Salt Ice Cream.

"And what do you think of that?" Pence asked, "isn't Sea Salt Ice Cream the best or what?"

"Salty and sweet at the same time," said Nessie in a contemplative manner, "interesting."

"That's all?" Pence asked in a slightly hurt tone, "_just _interesting?"

"I don't really have that much of a taste for sweets," said Nessie as she looked off towards the horizon.

"Are you alright?" Olette asked, "ready to talk about what happened?"

"We're all ears about how you got here," said Hayner, while Pence nodded in agreement.

At that Nessie sighed, "there's a lot that I want to tell you, a whole lot of stuff that's so complicated that I'll have to go into a lot of what happened years ago, before I was even born. But I can't talk about it, I want to but I just can't."

"Well what can you tell us?" Pence asked.

Nessie sighed again, "have you ever seen pure evil before? I'm not talking about petty criminals, I mean evil in its worse form."

"We've seen some really rotten stuff done by some rotten people," said Hayner. He, Pence and Olette remembered when Axel abducted Kairi, and there were all those creatures, those Nobodies, that caused a panic afterwards.

"Well I've seen evil in many forms," said Nessie, "some of them only acted evil because they didn't know what good was, that evil was their only way of living. I've seen evil carried out because the ones doing it thought it was for the greater good, while furthering their own gains at the same time.

"But then there's true evil, a person who knows what he's doing is wrong and relishes in it, who delights in spreading pain and misery wherever he goes, who laughs at other peoples sorrows, who sees other people as nothing more than pawns to manipulate and toys to collect.

"I nearly wound up the property of such an evil man. He went by the human name of Gideon Graves, but he's really a monster in human form. A while back, Gideon sent his demon minions to kidnap me, all so he could claim my powers.

"My friends and family fought with everything they had to keep me safe, and they had a lot to fight with, but it wasn't enough. We had to get help from others, who turned out to be really nice," she indicated her sword with the wooden handle, "they made this for me and trained me in how to use it, and in other things."

"But even with my new skills and friends, they still weren't enough to stop Gideon. His demons and minions captured me and took me to the master himself. But when I got there, and with my friends and family just minutes behind by the way, Gideon took one look at me and said that I wasn't the one he was looking for."

She threw her finished ice cream stick away in disgust with enough force to send it into orbit, "all that pain and misery over a mistaken identity! I nearly lost everyone I cared about; my friends, my parents and grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my Jacob, my dear, sweet, wonderful Jacob who has suffered so much, and in the end, it was wall for nothing!"

"You sound like you wanted to be the one Gideon wanted," said Hayner.

"It's not that I wanted to be owned by the creep," said Nessie in a disgusted tone, "it's just that, after all that time being hunted by demons, all the terror and sleepless nights, all the training I got from my new friends, all the fighting we did, I just wish that it meant something other than a mistake made by the enemy.

"But that didn't matter, because what Gideon did when my friends and family caught up with me, it changed everything. Gideon said that I wasn't the one he wanted, but he couldn't take any chances of my someday stopping him. He used some sort of dark magic that blasted me out of my world and into this one."

"And that's how you got here," said Olette, "I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as I am," said a really miserable-sounding Nessie, "Jacob got caught in the blast as well. I saw him trying to pull me out of the way, but he got hit by…whatever that was. That was the last I saw of him. I got sent here and he got sent…somewhere else," she began crying, "and I'm never going to see him again!"

"Hey," said Olette in a reassuring manner, "it's going to be okay, somehow."

"No, it isn't!" said a sobbing Nessie, "you don't get it; Jacob's my soul mate, my reason for living. I am his and he is mine. At first the connection was only his absolute devotion to me, and I only saw him as a big brother, the most wonderful big brother ever. But that was when I was just a little kid. It took me up until my last birthday to realize just how much I loved him, and the feeling was mutual. We were made for each other, and now he's gone!"

"Don't say such things!" said Hayner as he stood up, while Olette handed Nessie a handkerchief, "if you're here in this universe, then there's a good chance that Jacob is here in this universe as well."

"There's a lot of worlds in the realms," said Pence, "it goes to reason that Jacob may be on one of them. We were getting ready to take a trip around the worlds when you arrived."

"You could come with us and we'll all look for Jacob," said Olette.

"You mean it?" Nessie asked as she wiped her eyes with Olette's handkerchief , "I could go with you and we'd all look for Jacob?"

"We won't take no for an answer," said Hayner, "besides, we'd be sorry friends if you didn't come with us."

"Oh, there's one more thing you should know," said Olette, "there's these creatures called Heartless, and these other creatures called Nobodies…"

Nessie listened with avid attention as Olette, Hayner and Pence talked about the dangers of this universe.

"Creatures of darkness and creatures empty of hearts," said Nessie, she smiled eagerly, "after everything I've been through, this sounds like a walk in the park. Count me in!"

"We'll be leaving tomorrow," said Olette.

"Oh, wait!" said Pence, "we still haven't found a real pilot yet. The ship we've got needs a crew of at least four, and none of us are that great of flyers."

"Well show me the controls," said Nessie, "I could figure them out easily enough."

"You can figure out how to fly a starship by tomorrow morning?" Olette asked.

"I've been called a fast learner," said Nessie in a confident manner.

"I'm sure you are," said Hayner, "but I've already got a pilot in mind."

Just then there was a flash as a rift appeared about ten feat above the clock tower. From that rift fell someone human, who landed hard on the far side of the clock tower. Hayner, Pence, Olette and Nessie ran around to see a boy in his mid teens. He had dark hair and passionately deep blue eyes. He was tall and well muscled under his red and orange jacket and blue jeans. He had a short sword with and ornately carved handle in a brown leather scabbard around his waist. In his arms was a large female cat with blue-black fur and the same colored eyes as the boy.

"Are you alright?" Pence and Olette asked the boy as he began to sit up.

"I think so," the boy said in a London accent, "I feel like I'm all here."

"Nothing out of place with me," said the cat, also speaking in a London accent

"A talking cat," said Nessie, "awesome."

"Oh bother!" said the cat, "I shouldn't have let them know I can talk!"

"It's out of the bag now, Kirjava," said the boy, "there's no reason either of us should play dumb now. As far as I can tell, we're exactly where we want to be," he stood up and held out his hand, "I'm Will Parry, and this is Kirjava. As you know already, she talks."

"Nice to meet you both," said Nessie as she shook Will Parry's hand. She then looked at Hayner and the others, "are people falling out of the sky normal for this world?"

"Not this world," said Hayner in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Well I'm an exception to that rule," said Will Parry, "you see, I was told by a reliable source that I needed to be here to help someone defeat a great evil, and evil known as Gideon Graves."

At that Nessie nearly fell off of the roof in shock, "Gideon Graves?" she asked in a terrified tone, "did you say Gideon Graves?"

"That's right," said Will in a slightly distant tone, "you know him?"

"I wish I didn't," said Nessie, "he had me kidnapped, then said I wasn't good enough for him."

"Well he's caused plenty of havoc on my world," said Will Parry.

"So much that we all had to pull a lot of favors with Dr. Malone," said Kirjava, "when she finds out that we wound up destroying her dimensional teleportation invention in order to get to this…wherever this place is, she's going to wring your neck out."

"She wouldn't do that," said Will Parry, "she'll be royally pissed, but she won't try to kill me."

"Who are you again?" Pence asked, "and why do you have a cat that talks?"

At that Kirjava leapt down from Will's arms and glared up at Pence, "I'll have you know, young man, that I am no cat. I am a daemon, Will's daemon to be exact."

"A demon!" Olette asked in a nervous tone.

"Daemon," said Will Parry, "with an 'e' in the middle. Kirjava is no pet, she's my soul."

"Oh yeah, that's right," said Nessie, "my aunt Alice told me that I would one day meet people whose souls exist in animal form," she looked at Hayner, Pence and Olette, "my family is kinda gifted."

"Oh, you're that girl with the gifted family that I was told I had to help," said Will Parry to Nessie, "I also have gifted friends, and they told me that I have to go with all of you to stop the darkness from spreading throughout time and space."

"That's what I'm supposed to do as well," said Nessie, "did you have these weird dreams about these guys with weird swords shaped like keys?"

"Keyblades!" said Will Parry, "was one of them a girl with red hair, while one boy had spiky brown hair and one was tall with gray hair?"

"That's them!" said Nessie, "no way this is coincidence," she looked at Hayner and the others, "we're taking him with us, and we've got to find those guys with those key swords, those Keyblades."

"We'll find Sora and his friends," said Olette, "but first we've got to get our ship ready."

"And we still need a pilot," said Pence.

"I told you, I already found one," said Hayner, "Vivi's going to be our pilot."

"Vivi!" exclaimed both Pence and Olette.

"That's right," said Hayner.

"But Vivi's part of Seifer's crew," said Pence.

"Yeah, but he hasn't been hanging out with Seifer for a while," said Olette in a thoughtful manner.

"They had a bit of a falling out," said Hayner, "when he heard that we were going to visit the worlds, he asked to fly our ship."

"And you trust him?" Olette asked.

"He seemed honest to me," said Hayner, "and it's not like we have another choice. No one else in town is interested in going with us, and he happened to use the ship's onboard flight simulator with flying colors."

"You've got a space ship?" Will Parry asked, "I could probably figure it out."

"Oh really?" Kirjava asked, "since when could you pilot a starship?"

"I'm a fast learner," said Will Parry, "you know that better than anyone."

"I'm still confused," said Pence.

"You're not alone," said Hayner, "regardless," he looked at Will Parry, "if you're coming with us, we might as well see what you've got," he pointed at the sword that Will Parry carried, "know how to use that?"

"It's relatively bran new," said Will, "it was designed to vanquish evil, specifically demons."

"Mine too," said Nessie, "but Hayner's right, I'd like to see what you're made of, Will Parry."

"Any time, any place," said Will Parry.

A few minutes later found Hayner, Pence, Olette, Nessie, Will and Kirjava in the Sandlot, with Will and Nessie set up for a Struggle match.

"You've got one minute to knock off as many of Nessie's orbs and to pick them up," said Pence to Will, "without losing any of yours." He, Pence, Olette and Kirjava were sitting on the sidelines.

"Got it," said Will. He looked at Nessie, "don't expect me to hold back because you're a girl," he said in a taunting tone.

"Don't expect me to hold back because I'm a girl," said Nessie in a taunting manner.

"Fair enough," said Will. He then closed his eyes in concentration. Suddenly, a bright blue aura surrounded him.

"What is this?" a confused Nessie asked, "are you using magic?"

"I don't think magic is allowed in Struggle," said Olette.

"He isn't," Kirjava said idly, "Will can use Ki energy, which can enhance his physical prowess many fold."

"Well isn't that something?" Nessie asked. She smiled eagerly, "well, if you're going to use Ki energy, then I might as well make sure it's a fair fight. Come get me."

"After you of course," said Will as he bowed respectfully, while Nessie did the same.

"Go!" shouted Pence.

Nessie and Will rushed at each other so fast their movements were almost blurs. They struck each other with their foam bats, each able to block the other's moves without landing a solid hit.

"Unbelievable!" said an astonished Olette, "Nessie's using more of her natural power, but Will's able to enhance his strength and speed."

"If neither of them can knock off any orbs," said Pence, "the match will end in a tie."

"I don't think they're really trying to win right now," said Hayner, "it looks like they're just sizing each other up."

True enough, the match ended with both players keeping their original orbs.

"That was fun," said Nessie as she idly leaned against a nearby lamp post. Despite the intense match just now, she looked like she had hardly exerted herself at all.

Will also looked equally rested, although he was sweating just a bit, "it was fun," he raised his foam bat again, "but now it's time to get serious. I want to know if a girl of mixed races like you, with all your inherited powers, is an equal for all my learned skills, not that I'm prejudiced mind you."

"I'm not offended," said Nessie in a slightly suspicious tone, "but how did you know about my family background?"

"Let's just say that my eyes are open," said Will, "so, are we going to do this or not?"

"You bet we're going to do it!" said Nessie. They both rushed at each other and hit each other with their foam bats, knocking off all of their orbs at the same time. They then ran around, grabbing the orbs, resulting with Nessie having 101 and Will with 99. They then attacked each other and knocked all their orbs off again. They grabbed their orbs, but now Will had one more than Nessie.

"It's way too close," said Hayner as he checked the clock, seeing that only ten seconds have passed.

"They're equal," said a stunned Pence.

"I'm not so sure about that," said Olette.

"You're fantastic!" said Will as he and Nessie knocked their orbs off again.

"You're no slouch either," said a smiling Nessie as they grabbed their orbs, but now Will had 105, while she had 95, "I'll admit, you're a way better swordsman than I am."

"Then why are you smiling?" Will asked.

"Because I know something you don't know," said Nessie as she winked at Will.

"And what's that?" Will asked.

"I'm not left handed!" said Nessie. She had been using a southpaw strategy, but now she switched her bat to her right hand and hit Will with enough force to knock him down, scattering all of his orbs.

By the time Will got up, Nessie had nearly all of his orbs. Will managed to grab the last five of his orbs.

"Time!" shouted Pence. "Nessie wins with 195 orbs!"

"Looks like my way is better," said Nessie as she shook Will's hand.

"You surprised me, that's all," said Will.

"I saw it coming a mile away," said Kirjava as she walked over and jumped into Will's arms.

"Well at least we know that you've got the right stuff," said Olette as she, Hayner and Pence walked over, "I'd say we've got a great crew going here."

"It'd be the perfect crew," said Pence, "if we can count on Vivi."

"Don't count on it!" snapped Seifer as he, Rai and Fuu angrily walked over, all of them armed with various blunt objects. Rai had a 2X4, Fuu had a crowbar and a length of pipe, while Seifer had an oversized Struggle bat that had the foam covering removed.

"As soon as we teach you losers a lesson, we're going to go to work on that traitor, Vivi," said Seifer.

"Yeah, he's gonna get it, ya'know?" said Rai.

"Retribution," said Fuu.

"Oh good grief," said an exasperated Hayner, "haven't you idiots had enough for one day?"

"You already got schooled earlier," said Pence.

"They're gluttons for punishment," said Olette.

"I guess I'll have to show off again to these punks," said Nessie.

"Wait," said Will as he glared intensely at the three bullies, "I got this."

"Oh you're not going to do _that _again, are you?" Kirjava asked, "you already frightened your mother with your skills, and you nearly scared Jessie half to death."

"But they got over it," said Will as he put Kirjava on the ground, "besides, if my father were around, he'd tell me that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and for your friends," he glared again at Seifer, Rai and Fuu, "especially when it comes to bullies."

"That cat just talked, ya'know!" exclaimed Rai.

"Impossible!" said Fuu.

"Not impossible," said Kirjava as she walked back to the sidelines, "just improbable."

"I don't know what's going on," said Seifer angrily, "but I know that freaks aren't welcome in this town!" he pointed at Kirjava with his oversized bat, "get that freak!"

"Gladly, ya'know?" said Rai.

"Cat-skinning time," said Fuu.

"You leave her alone!" shouted Olette as she ran over to Kirjava and bent down to pick her up, but Kirjava suddenly jumped away from Olette before she got close to the feline daemon.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you touch me," she said in an apologetic manner, "it's not you…well…it is you, and me."

"It's an unwritten taboo," said Will, "it's forbidden to touch another person's daemon, even with permission."

"Oh, yeah," said Olette as she looked at Kirjava, then Will, then Kirjava again, then at Will again, "she's your soul."

"I don't care who's who or what's what!" snapped Seifer, "someone's going to get their ass kicked tonight!"

"Then let it be you," said Will as he took up a fighting stance, then beckoned the three bullies with his hand, "unless you're scared."

"Get him!" snapped Seifer. He, Fuu and Rai charged at Will, their blunt weapons raised for a serious beating.

Instead, Will closed his eyes again and raised his Ki, increasing his strength and speed. He then moved so fast that he was barely visible to the human eye. Before those watching could blink, the three bullies were on the ground with several bruises on their faces, arms and body.

"I'd give up now if I were you," said Will, "unless you really are gluttons for punishment."

At that Seifer, Rai and Fuu ran for it. "This isn't over!" shouted Seifer.

"You'll get yours, ya'know!" shouted Rai.

"Vengeance!" shouted Fuu.

"Holly crow!" said an impressed Nessie once the three bullies were gone.

"There's the understatement of the year," said Hayner, while Pence nodded in agreement.

"That was out of this world, for real," said an astonished Olette as she and the others walked up to Will.

"I told you they wouldn't like it," said Kirjava as she jumped into Will's arms again.

"What do you mean?" Hayner asked, "That was so cool!"

"To think that Ki energy can do that," said Pence.

"Yeah," said Will, who was now looking like he had just finished a furious workout, "it is great, but I can't use it too much, otherwise I'll be too exhausted to do anything."

"Well I'm impressed," said Nessie, "I think we'll be really great friends."

"Before you go any further," said Will, "I already have a girlfriend. Her name is Jessie, and we're really happy with each other."

"I wasn't implying that we should date," said Nessie, "I already know who my soul mate is. And we're going to find him while we're looking for Sora and those others"

"I'd like to meet him," said Will, "your soul mate. He must be awesome."

"More than you realize," said Nessie. She then yawned deeply, "I think I've had enough excitement for one day."

"It is getting late," said Pence as he checked his watch, "the sun may still be up, but it's really after 10:00."

"Talk about daylight savings time," said an impressed Will.

"I don't think they have that on this world," said Kirjava, "but regardless, I do believe it is time to rest, for all of us."

"We've got a lot to do in the morning," said Hayner, "we're going to need an early start if we're going to get the ship ready tomorrow."

"Where's Will going to stay the night?" Olette asked, "Nessie's already sleeping at my house."

Pence and Hayner then looked at each other suspiciously.

"It's okay, really," said Will, "I'll find a hotel or someplace. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to rough it in a big city."

"And what are you going to pay for your room?" Kirjava asked, "I doubt that they'll accept British Pound Sterling here."

"Oh, good point," said Will.

"He'll stay at Pence's house," said Hayner, having just won a game of rock paper scissors.

"I'll get my parent's permission, somehow," said Pence.

"It's alright, I'll make due myself," said Will.

"Not on your life," said Pence, "friends don't let friends sleep in the streets. I should warn you, I snore a bit."

"Of course you do," said both Will and Kirjava.

"We'd all better head home," said Hayner, "we'll meet back at the Usual Spot at 7:00 AM sharp."

"We'll be there," said Olette.

"Or else we'll be square," said Nessie. At that everyone laughed and went to their respective homes, with guests in tow.

"Are you sure it's alright that I spend the night at your house?" Nessie asked Olette, "I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't be a bother," said Olette, "unless you snore as well."

"I don't," said Nessie, "I'm told that I sleep very soundly."

True enough, after showing Nessie her home, room and both of them got ready for bet, Nessie fell into a deep sleep the minute her head touched the pillow on the guest bed that was set up in Olette's room.

Olette soon fell asleep afterwards. But at 2:47 a.m., Olette woke up for some reason. She was about to try and go back to sleep, when she realized that Nessie was dressed and was about to walk out the room, moving way too quite for a human being to be able to do.

Curious, Olette also got dressed and followed Nessie. She was moving from building shadow to building shadow, patiently making sure that no night owls on the streets saw her.

Olette followed Nessie down to the Tram Common, then through the hole in the wall that lead to The Woods, then out to The Old Mansion.

_What's she doing out here? _Olette thought, _this is where that portal to that other Twilight Town is._

But instead of going inside the abandoned building, Nessie went past it into a larger forest behind it. Olette followed her, doing her best to make as little noise as possible.

After a few minutes, Nessie paused to sniff the wind. She seemed to have smelled something she liked, for she jumped onto a high branch of a tree and jumped to another tree, then another and another.

Olette tried to keep up without making noise, but that proved to be almost impossible. But she did catch up, just in time to see Nessie perching on a high branch over a heard of grazing deer.

Before Olette knew it, Nessie had jumped from the branch, tackled one deer, sank her teeth into the neck of the animal and began drinking its blood, killing it within seconds. The rest of the herd had scattered, but after finishing the deer she had killed, Nessie ran after the other deer.

Terrified to almost an inch of her life, Olette began screaming at the top of her lungs. She closed her eyes against the horror she had just seen.

But then Olette realized something was shaking her, and she could hear Nessie's voice, "Olette! Wake up, Olette!"

Olette opened her eyes and saw Nessie leaning over her. It took her a second to realize that she and Nessie were back in her bedroom, and both of them were in their pajamas.

"Nessie?" a confused and still afraid Olette asked, "what…what just…I saw you…in the woods."

"You were having a nightmare," said Nessie in a calming and reassuring manner, "and from the way you were thrashing about and screaming just now, it must have been a really awful one."

"I…I was dreaming?" Olette asked, "but…it was so real."

"The dreams of those Keyblade guys," said Nessie, "they seemed real to me, and they are real people. But sometimes a dream is just a dream, and a nightmare is just a nightmare," she smiled reassuringly, "You're okay, trust me."

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Olette. She saw that it was still a few hours before she and Nessie were supposed to get up and get ready to meet Hayner and the boys, so they tried to go back to sleep.

"Everything's alright," said Nessie again, "but if it's alright, what were you so afraid of?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy," said Olette, "but I dreamed that I followed you out to the woods behind the Old Mansion, and I saw you drinking the blood of a deer. Well, am I crazy or something?"

Even though the room was dark, Olette could almost see Nessie lying in bed with a shocked look on her face. But then Nessie laughed, "yeah, crazy. No, it was just a dream, and if that makes you crazy, then we both need to be locked into padded rooms and wear those jackets that make you hug yourself."

At that Olette also laughed, "yeah, crazy." They both went back to sleep, but one thing was still on Olette's mind; _was it really a dream? Or did that really happen? And if that's the answer, then who or _what _was Nessie really?_

**The end of chapter 2.**

Next chapter things being to heat up as the enemy sets their plans in motion. Will both groups of our heroes be able to withstand the onrushing tide of darkness? Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	3. Chapter 3: The Darkness Asserts

Last time found Pete conspiring with the Hakonians to abandon New Hollow Bastion, find their rightful leaders (Reddik and Rakel) and go in search of a new home. At the same time, Sora and the gang hearing Jacob's story, and the story of Lyra Silvertongue and her daemon Pantalimon, while in Twilight Town, Hayner, Pence and Olette heard a bit about Nessie, while also meeting one Will Parry and his daemon Kirjava. Later on, Olette had a horrifying dream about Nessie, but was it really a dream? 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 3: The Darkness Asserts**

…Twilight Town…8:00 a.m.

"So where's this fantastic space ship that Pence talked about half the night?" Will asked as he, Kirjava and Pence met up with Nessie and Olette in The Usual Spot.

"It's on the other side of town," said Olette, "past Sunset Terrace. Hayner's already there getting things ready, so we got to meet him there."

"What exactly needs to be done to get the ship ready?" Nessie asked as they left the Usual Spot and walked onto the Back Alley.

"Well we need to get the provisions," said Pence, "we already ordered everything; foodstuffs, spare parts, spare weapons, and a few entertainment items like video games and MP3 players. We'll need to get extra food for our new crewmen, but everything else is ready to be picked up on Market Street."

"Then what are we waiting for," said Kirjava as she stretched, "there's no time like the present to get things done."

Along the way to Market Street, Olette yawned deeply.

"You okay?" Pence asked, "you look like you didn't get much sleep last night."

"Bad dreams, that's all," said Olette.

"I once dreamt that I was being chased by little blue furry monsters," said Will, "with these big yellow eyes that could shoot death beams."

"That's nothing to compared to what's gone on in my sleeping mind," said Nessie, "I sometimes dream of being chased by giant bats and manta rays, all swooping and screaming around me, and someone was shouting 'Holly Crow! What are these goddamned animals!' I think I was doing the shouting."

"Have I ever told you guys about the time I was baked into a giant pizza?" Pence asked, "now that was a nightmare."

"Well I dreamed that I followed Nessie out into the woods," said Olette, "and she was drinking the blood of a dear. Now that was scary."

"Yeah, scary," said Nessie in a slightly distant and nervous tone.

"I think I know what you mean," said Will. By then they had reached the stores on the Market Street and picked up the packages that were ordered, while Pence ordered more foodstuffs. It took a while but they got everything they needed.

With everything loaded onto shopping carts, they went up the street to the Train Station and took the local train to Sunset Terrace.

"It's this way," said Olette as she lead the others to the Underground Concourse and through a newly added door. On the other side was a large hanger full of various starships in various stages of construction.

"When everyone learned that there were other worlds out there," said Pence as the group walked to the far end of the hanger, "a lot of people got interested in seeing those worlds. Our ship is lucky enough to need just a few more adjustments and modifications, and if we're lucky, we can be ready by this afternoon."

"I think we're going to need a lot more time than that," said Kirjava as they reached the last ship in the room. It was a Highwind model, but painted green and blue with orange trim, and looking like was held together with just duct tape, soldering and super glue.

"It's a piece of junk!" exclaimed Will.

"Don't diss my ship!" said Hayner as he stood up from the roof of the ship, a wrench in his hands, "I put a lot of hard work into getting her ready. She'll fly true, with a little more loving to get her all ship shape."

Just then Vivi, a very short boy wearing a blue coat and a tall straw hat that completely covered his features, so that all that could be seen were his eyes, walked down the entrance hatch of the ship, "all the flight systems check out," said Vivi, "and the engines are ready for activation. We just need to check the rest of the onboard systems, give the whole ship a once over and load the provisions."

"Well we got all the supplies," said Olette, "we'll get them aboard and finish getting the ship ready."

"So you're our pilot," said Nessie to Vivi, "I hope you know what you're doing. Someone very precious to me is lost out there among the worlds, and I'd like to find him before we crash somewhere or blow up for some reason."

"Just tell me where to go," said Vivi, "I'll get us there."

"I hope so," said Will, while Kirjava nodded in agreement.

"Did any of us come up with a name yet?" Pence asked, "We should have named the ship by now. It's bad luck to have a ship without a name."

"You haven't thought of a name yet?" Will asked.

"I thought Hayner would have thought of it," said Pence.

"I thought Olette was in charge of that," said Hayner.

"And I thought Pence would name the ship," said Olette.

"Well, isn't this a conundrum," said Kirjava.

"I'll name the ship," said Nessie, "someone has to, so it might as well be me."

"Who made you the namer?" Will asked, "I have a few ideas."

"I'll bet you do," said Nessie, "but my ideas are better."

"Oh really," said Will in a daring tone, "well let's hear you ideas, then I'll tell you my ideas. We'll see whose ideas are cooler."

"Alright then," said Nessie as she smugly crossed her arms, "how about Voyaging Light."

"Voyaging Light," said Olette, tasting the feel of the name on her tongue, "I like it, it's nice, and identifiable. We're exploring, and we're fighting for the light."

"It is cool," said Pence.

"It's better than what I've got," said Will in a disappointed manner, "all I've got is 'Enterprise' and other names that have been used."

"We might as well make it official," said Hayner. He then grabbed some large design scrims and a can of vacuum-proof spray paint and wrote _'Voyaging Light' _on the hull of the ship.

Olette then broke a bottle of soda on the side of the ship, "and that's it for the christening. So, let's get _The Voyaging Light _ready."

"What about crew quarters?" Will asked, "I'd rather not have to hear Pence snoring again."

"I wasn't that loud," said Pence.

"Trust me," said Hayner, "you're loud."

"That's the beauty of this ship," said Olette, "she may look like she's been through a meat grinder on the outside, but she's state of the art on the inside."

"The bridge has seats for all of us," said Hayner, "we'll work out who gets what controls later. Anyway, there's a crew deck where we all have rooms. There's a galley, a laundry room, a sickbay, an engine room, a cargo bay and a weapons control room."

"I'll be the judge of how good things are on the ship," said Will, "let's take a look at her."

"While we're getting the ship ready," said Hayner as they all went aboard, "how about telling us you're story, Will."

"He certainly wasn't talking last night," said Pence.

"I guess I should tell you how I got here," said Will, "the truth is, I come from a world not all that different from this one, where everyone's souls are invisible."

"I honestly didn't know I existed myself," said Kirjava, "up until a few years ago. I've always been part of Will, and he a part of me, but I wasn't aware of myself, or even conscious for that matter, until Will had to do something terrible."

Will held up his right hand, the one with the missing fingers, "I lost these when I became the rightful owner of an item of great and terrible power; The Subtle Knife, a blade that had the power to cut through anything, even the fabric of reality. With that knife, I could travel to any world in any universe."

"That must have been cool," said Nessie, "I'm sorry you had to lose your fingers and all, but to go anywhere you wanted, that's awesome."

"It was awesome, part of the time," said Will, "and I do miss my fingers sometimes, I was attached to them, but I'm over it. But the knife had a terrible side effect. Every time I cut a hole in a universe, I wound up letting out Dust, an invisible form of matter that makes conscious beings able to be conscious. Without Dust, all life forms would be nothing more than mindless zombies."

"So this Dust allows us to be us," said Olette, "and the knife destroyed Dust."

"There's more," said Will, "each hole created by the knife, it also wound up creating a creature that eats people's souls. These creatures, Specters, they are invisible to children and for the most part ignore them until they start to grow up. But when you're an adult, then you're venerable to Specters."

"And they eat your soul," said Kirjava, "or Daemon, in my case."

"If Will's from a world where people's souls are invisible," said Pence, "then how come we can see you?"

"I came into visibility when Will was forced to go where no living person was supposed to go," said Kirjava, "a world that is the origin of all myths and religious dogma for the afterlife. This world was like a prisons for souls, where the good and the bad were unjustly kept in an endlessly vast cave, tormented by harpies, for all of eternity."

"But I helped changed things," said Will, "a very dear friend of mine went with me to this horrible place in order to find a friend of hers, a friend she unintentionally betrayed to his death."

"This is getting a bit complicated," said Olette, "could you try to keep it simple?"

"I'm afraid that's impossible," said Will, "even if I try to keep it short, it'll still be too big."

* * *

><p>…Radiant Garden…3:00 p.m.<p>

"Alright, I'm starting to get confused," said Sora, "let me get this straight, Lyra. You come from a world where everyone's souls are animals, I got that, and there's this stuff, Dust, that allows people to think for themselves."

"Right so far," said Lyra, "what else do you not understand?"

"I'm getting there," said Sora, "so you wound up rescuing a bunch of children from a Church-sponsored organization that was trying to keep them innocent by cutting away their souls."

"The gobblers," said Pantalimon, "horrible people, lead by the most horrible person of all."

"Your own mother," said a still shocked Kairi.

"Unfortunately yes," said Lyra, "Mrs. Coultier, she may have given birth to me, but she never was my mother, not in the way that truly matters."

"And your father, who made you think he was your uncle," said Sora, "he plotted against the evil god of your universe, The Authority."

"My father, Lord Asriel," said Lyra, "he wanted to create his own world free of The Authority, The Republic of Heaven. But my father and so many others, in fact, nearly everyone in existence, they failed to realize that The Republic of Heaven isn't something physical, it's more like an ideal that you need to keep close to your heart."

"I figured as much," said Kairi, "no one should be forced to live by another's set of rules, especially if those rules take away free will and the right to happiness."

"My thoughts exactly," said Lyra. She looked at Sora, "but what don't you understand?"

"I'm getting to that," said Sora, "so, you wound up saving the children, then you tried to save your father, but it was a set up. He would up killing your friend in order to tear open a portal to another world so he could fight The Authority. You wound up teaming up with someone whom you wound up falling in love with."

"Will Parry," said a smiling Lyra, "even though we were in love, we were forced to leave each other when everything went back to normal. We promised each other that we would try to get on with our lives and be happy. I did find someone that I'm happy with, his name is Vance, but I still miss Will sometimes.

"You never forget your first love," said Kairi, "so, you and Will tried to find the soul of your other friend so you could make up for betraying him. You wound up going to this world that's both heaven and hell, and in order to get there, you had to leave Pan behind."

"It was awful," said Pan, "I was torn from Lyra, and Will Parry's soul as well. Her name's Kirjava by the way, but she had to be ripped from Will in order for her to know that she even existed."

"You still haven't told me what you and Kirjava did while Will and I were in that terrible place," said Lyra.

"I'm still not ready to tell," said Pan, "but I feel that that time is almost here, and I feel that Kirjava feels the same way, wherever she and Will are."

"I'm sure you've got your reasons for not telling," said Sora, "so, you wound up rescuing all these millions and millions of souls who were stuck in this hell-prison for no good reason. You gave them the means to merge with the universe, all the while stopping The Authority from taking over everything."

"We actually wound up killing The Authority," said Lyra, "this being, this supreme angel, he had fooled countless worlds into thinking he was God, and he wound up believing it himself. But when Will and I found him, he was so old and frail that when Will used his knife to free him from this crystal caravan, he fell apart, and he seemed glad to die."

"To think that countless people across time and space have been worshiping a lie," said a disillusioned Aiden, "at least the gods on my world are real."

"And you had to leave Will because people aren't meant to leave their universe," said Sora, "that if you stay away from your home 'verse for too long, you die, so you and Will had to say goodbye."

"That's right," said Lyra, "but what is it that you don't understand?"

"I don't understand how you can use that…that thing," said Sora as he pointed to Lyra's Alethiometer, "I guess it's magic of some sort, but it looks so complicated."

"It's not complicated at all," said Lyra as she held up the golden compass, "when I first got it, it didn't seem that hard to understand. It took me a while to figure out what each symbol means, and all their different meanings, and how to use them to ask questions, but I soon found I was a natural at it. But I lost it when Will and I realized that we loved each other, when we kissed for the first time. I was told that was when I lost my innocence, and that innocence allowed me to use the Alethiometer with grace.

"But I relearned how to use the Alethiometer. There are books and things on my world that are all about it, so after Pan and I got home, I started at an all girls school, where I made loads of friends, and eventually met Vance, and I also read those books. I began to remember what the symbols mean, and each symbol has dozens, hundreds even, of meanings. When I said you can ask it any question, I meant any question.

"But a few weeks ago the fixings for the questions, and the meanings of the answers, they all came to me naturally again. I had the gift back, and I think I got it back so I can help you guys defeat the darkness once and for all."

"But you can't defeat the darkness once and for all," said Riku, "darkness is as much a part of a persons heart as light is."

"And as long as there's darkness in peoples hearts," said Sora, "then there'll always be the threat of The Heartless, and Nobodies, and demons as well, I guess."

"But what about Gideon Graves?" said Jacob, "and this Maleficent. We can destroy them, right?"

"For all our sakes, I hope so," said Naminé.

"We'll beat them, somehow," said Roxas.

"Now here's two things that I need to understand," said Lyra, "you two," she looked at Roxas and Naminé, "according to the Alethiometer, you're not really people."

"That's right," said Roxas, "Naminé and I are Nobodies. We don't have hearts."

"We've got the organ that pumps blood," said Naminé, "but that's something else entirely." She and Roxas then told the story of how they came into being, with Sora and Kairi filling details here and there.

"So you're sort of like the daemons of Sora and Kairi," said Lyra.

"If I were Sora's soul," said Roxas, "then I'd know about it."

"And I'm definitely not Kairi's soul," said Naminé.

"Regardless of who's soul," said Jacob as he looked at Lyra, "and besides that truth telling thing of yours, what can you do that'll help find Nessie?"

"Is your girlfriend all that you can think about?" Lyra asked.

"When your whole existence has been rewritten so that all that matters is that one person you imprint on," said Jacob, "yes."

"Well then," said Lyra as she held her Alethiometer, "I'll try and find her for you," she turned the small wheels so that the smaller needles aligned with the symbols she wanted. Lyra went into her trance and watched as the larger needle swung around the face of the device. After about three minutes, Lyra emerged from her trance, "she's safe, and she's with friends, but for some reason, the Alethiometer can't pinpoint her exact location."

"That the hell do you mean you can't find Nessie!" snapped Jacob as he angrily got up, "I thought you said that thing can find anything!"

"I said that the Alethiometer tells the truth," said Lyra as she stubbornly looked up at Jacob stubbornly, "sometimes the truth can be distorted by one manner or another."

"Like dark magic?" Kairi asked.

"That could mess with it," said Lyra.

"Why did you say dark magic?" Aiden asked.

"I just have this feeling," said Kairi, "that something terrible is about to happen."

"I feel that way also," said Tess, "like…"

"Like Maleficent's about to make her move," said Riku grimly.

* * *

><p>…Twilight Town…same time…<p>

"You were forced to leave your first love?" Olette asked, "that's awful."

"It's not as if I had a choice," said Will, "well, I did have a choice. I could have gone with Lyra to her world and stayed with her, or she could have gone with me to my world. But then we would have been stuck in either place. We had to close all the windows in order to stop any more Dust from being lost. That one big window had to be kept open so all the souls could merge with the universe, but no others.

"But then, even if Lyra and I had stayed together, we wouldn't have been happy for long. We found out from a very reliable source that you can't stay away from your own world for too long, otherwise you'll sicken and eventually die, after ten years or so. If I had stayed with Lyra, or she with me, then one of us would have watched the other wither away into nothing, and then we'd both be miserable.

"We left each other so we could have full, normal lives, assuming anything can be called normal. I went back to my world and broke the Subtle Knife, so no more windows and Specters could be made, and that so no one else can use its power. But before Lyra and I said goodbye, we promised each other that we would try to be happy, and so far, I have, and I feel that Lyra's been happy as well."

"That's some story," said Nessie, "I'm sorry that you had to leave your first love. I know what it's like being forced away from someone precious to you, and my parents went through the same thing. This one time, my father tried to leave my mother when they were dating. He thought he was dangerous for her and left her to keep her safe. What neither of them counted on was how miserable they were without each other."

"How dangerous could your dad have been?" Hayner asked.

At that Nessie sighed, as if trying to figure out what words to use. Finally she spoke, "imagine my mother as a lamb, and innocent, stupid lamb, completely unaware of how dangerous things can be, or rather, she knows the danger but doesn't care. Then along comes my father, who can be very dangerous, like a lion, a sick, masochistic lion, but also with a sense of morality. He knows how dangerous he is, but he tries his best not to hurt anyone, and for the most part, succeeds.

"Now imagine these two creatures meeting each other. The lion sees this lamb and not only wants to eat her, but is also drawn to her in a way that's stronger than his hunger. She's drawn to him by everything about him, even the danger. She knows that if both of them make one mistake, then she would be dead and he'd regret it forever. He tries to make her forget about him, but she won't leave him be, she's that infatuated with him. He finally gives in and admits his feelings for her, but also his darker desires. She doesn't care if he wants her in the worst way and is willing to risk her own life.

"In short, the stupid lamb and the sick, masochistic lion fell in love, and for a while, things were okay, even after another lion, a real psychopath of a lion, tried to eat the lamb, just to get the first lion to fight him. The psycho lion gets put down, and the lamb is saved. But then she tells the lion that she wants to be a lion. She knows that to become like him, she would lose everything that makes her her; her mind and sanity as well.

"He tries to get her to stay the way she is, but she still wants to be like him. Then a completely random accident makes him think that he'll only get her killed if they stay together. He abandons her and both are devastated, as if their worlds have been completely destroyed. He eventually realizes his mistake and they get back together, with their love that much stronger, but not before she develops feelings for someone else, someone else that will be her best friend, but at that time, he's in love with her deeply."

"Another lion?" Olette asked.

"More like a wolf," said Nessie, "I know it's getting confusing, so I'll make it short. My mother, her name's Bella by the way, loves my father, Edward, but she also loves Jacob, but is not in love with him, but he's in love with her. But then Bella and Edward get married and I come along. The next thing anyone knows, Jacob sees me and we're forever linked."

"I'm lost," said Hayner as he made an adjustment on the ship, "I get that your parents had a complicated relationship before they got married, but how is that your mom had a relationship triangle with your father and Jacob? I thought Jacob was your boyfriend."

"Is this the same Jacob?" Pence asked, "because if it is, and he's your parent's age, then…I'm not one to be prejudiced about who falls in love with who, but still…"

"I know how scandalous it sounds," said Nessie, "but I can assure you, Jacob isn't like that. And as for me, well…let's just say that when I'm all grown up, Jacob will still be the same as he was when we were linked on the day I was born. We'll both be together, and we'll have all the time in the world, in more ways than one."

"But how can you and Jacob be together if he's old enough to have gone to high school with your parents?" Pence asked.

"Why don't you tell us how old you really are," said Kirjava in a tone that said she knew more that Nessie was letting on.

At that Nessie blinked, "I don't know what you're talking about," she said in a tone that said she was hiding something, "I'm just another gifted human being."

"And I'm an ordinary house cat," said Kirjava sarcastically.

"I've told my story," said Will, "and you've told yours. But I haven't held anything back. I know it's forbidden for someone like you to tell the whole truth, but at least confirm what I have to say."

"And just what do you know about someone like me?" Nessie asked in a stubborn tone as she crossed her arms.

"That you're definitely more than a gifted human," said Will, "that you're something else entirely."

Just then Olette sat up, a look of shocked horror on her face, "I just had this terrible feeling that something awful is about to happen, and it's going to happen soon!"

Nessie closed her eyes in concentration, "I feel it too."

"Same here," said Will, "we're about to get some serious trouble our way, and soon."

* * *

><p>…New Hollow Bastion…<p>

"All the preparations have been completed," said The Negotiator, "oh great and terrible Maleficent."

"Excellent," said Maleficent as she and the demon walked out onto the balcony. Several buildings of the dark city had been demolished to create a large assembly area. Thousands upon thousands of various types of Heartless and Nobodies had been gathered. The dark creatures had been separated into several groups, one for each world, and each group was lead by a demon, each one unique, but six of them were more humanoid than the rest. In fact, they were human, but each was evil through and through.

"The six that you requested," said The Negotiator, "whom are the personal favorites of Mr. Graves; The League of Evil Exes. They will surely find the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis."

"And what of the group that is to capture Kairi and Aiden?" Maleficent asked, "who is to lead them?" she looked down at the dark group scheduled for Radiant Garden, and saw that its leader wasn't there.

Just then Pete ran onto the assembly area and skidded to a halt in front of the leaderless group, "Pete, reporting for work!" he sketched an awkward salute up to Maleficent.

"And where have you been, you bungling buffoon?" Maleficent irately asked.

"I wuz…takin' care of business," said Pete as he nervously wrung his hands, "Just had to tie up some lose ends."

"Well, for your sake it had better have been important," said Maleficent, "this is your last chance as far as I am concerned, Pete. Either return with the two Keyblade Wielders, or do not return at all!"

"I'll get them, don't worry about it!" said Pete as he frantically saluted.

"I am serious this time," said Maleficent, "if you fail this one, Pete, I will replace you, as I have already replaced the Hakonians."

"I can easily collate the resumes of several demons whom can be highly superior substitutes to this fur ball of an idiot," said The Negotiator

"I am willing to give the idiot this one last chance," said Maleficent. She glared down at Pete, "And now, I believe that Mr. Graves promised that the shielding effects of the Keyholes will be negated."

"That they will be," said The Negotiator, "my associates who have been visiting the worlds these past few months have done far more than simply look around. On each world an inhibiting signal generator has been planted with close proximity of each worlds Keyhole. These devices had a long-term power source but require time to recharge after each use, and their effects will only last for a few minutes at a time, but when activated, they will cancel out the sealed Keyholes," he opened his briefcase and pulled out a handheld transponder box with a big red button, "and this device will activate the inhibitors."

"Then do it!" snapped Maleficent, "negate the shielding power of the Keyholes!"

"By your command," said The Negotiator. He pressed the red button and the device began broadcasting a subspace signal that reached all the worlds in the Realm of Light almost simultaneously.

On each world's Keyhole, at the sleepy doorknob on Wonderland, behind the cliff falls on Deep Jungle, at the ruins of Oogie Boogies' house on Halloween Town, at the clock tower in Neverland, deep within the Cave of Wonders on Agrabah, and everywhere else in the realms, the Keyholes were unsealed and returned to neutral status.

"I'm receiving the confirmation signals from the inhibiting devices," said The Negotiator as he held up a PDA, "all of them are online, but they will be drained in fifteen minutes."

"That is all the time needed," said Maleficent. She looked down at her dark army, "go forth and carry out your duty to the darkness!"

Over a dozen large Dark Corridors opened and the throngs of Heartless, Nobodies and demons went through, while Pete lead his group through the Dark Corridor bound for Radiant Garden.

* * *

><p>…Twilight Town…<p>

"Oh no!" said Nessie as she and the others stood up, "they're coming!"

"Who's coming?" Hayner asked.

Suddenly the sound of screaming people could be heard outside.

"Please tell me you brought our weapons with you," said Olette to Pence.

"I've got them!" said Pence. He ran into the ship and came back with his fist shields, Olette's staff and Hayner's sword.

"I'm already good," said Will as he unsheathed his sword, while Nessie unsheathed her sword as well.

They all ran outside and were shocked to see hundreds of Heartless and dozens of Nobodies crawling all over Sunset Terrace. Here and there a few lesser demons were directing the Heartless and Nobodies in various acts of destruction and mayhem, all the while the people of the world ran around in terror. A few succumbed to the fear and despair, becoming more Heartless, while a few turned into Nobodies as well.

"This is what I was warned would happen," said Will, "the darkness, it's beginning to make its move."

"What can we do against all of this?" Olette asked.

"As best as we can," said Hayner as he drew his sword.

"Took the words out of my mouth," said Nessie. She then ran out into the streets and began destroying Heartless and Nobodies left and right, moving so fast that the dark creatures barely had time to react to her presence.

"Save some for the rest of us!" said Will as he and Kirjava ran out and also did some creature slaying as well. He would strike with his sword, while Kirjava would bite and slash with her claws.

Inspired by the courage of Nessie and Will, Hayner, Pence and Olette also ran out into the throngs of dark creatures, Hayner slashing and stabbing with his sword, Pence blocking and bashing with his fist shields and Olette casting spells and swatting and bonking with her staff.

"Can't let them have all the fun!" said Hayner as he destroyed a Neo Shadow.

"No one messes with our world and gets away with it!" shouted Pence as he bashed and destroyed a Dusk.

"Darn right!" said Olette as she blasted several Shadows with a Thunder spell.

It didn't take the six of them long to clear the area of baddies, but then they realized that this was only the beginning, "there's still the rest of town!" said Hayner.

"I don't think the trains are running right now," said Pence.

"The Underground Concourse!" said Olette. They ran to the Tunnelway and soon reached the larger set of tunnels.

"Which way?" Pence asked. One path would lead them to the Back Alley, another would lead them to the Station Plaza and the third would take them to the Tram Common.

"We'll split up," said Hayner, "Will, Kirjava and Olette, you take the Tram common, I'll go with Nessie and Pence up to the Station Plaza. We'll meet up at the Usual Spot!"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" said Kirjava. With that the group split and took the different paths.

* * *

><p>…Radiant Garden…<p>

Sora and the others ran outside and were shocked to see Heartless, Nobodies and demons everywhere.

"This can't be right!" said Sora as he, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess summoned their Keyblades and began fighting the dark creatures, "there shouldn't be this many Heartless! We sealed the Keyhole!"

"I don't think these guys care about that," said Aiden as he transmuted the ground under several Neo Shadows into spikes.

"This has Maleficent's doing all over it!" said Riku as he stabbed a Large Body in the back, then blasted several Invisibles with his Dark Aura.

"I'm really looking forward to meeting Maleficent," said Tess as she dueled and destroyed two Armored Knights, "so I can slit her throat!"

"But you got rid of your father's razor," said Roxas as he plowed through several Dusks, then decapitated a Berserker, then went to work on a squad of Creepers."

"She still has some razors," said Lyra as she fought a Dancer, then managed to get behind and destroy it.

"How'd you know that?" Tess asked, "wait, you did your homework with that truth-telling thing of yours, right?"

"Just how much of us do you know?" Jacob asked as he used his staff to knock several Soldiers into the air like bowling pins, each one self destructing before it hit the ground.

"Quite a lot, actually," said Lyra.

"Details later," said Pan as he darted among several Shadows and hamstrung them with his claws and teeth.

Just then a Neo Shadow self destructed when a white orb popped out of the ground from a white circle.

"The town's defense system!" said Sora, "they got the bugs out of it!"

"Well of course I got the bugs out of it!" said Cid as he ran over, carrying a large box that functioned as a Gatling laser gun, "what, did ya think I spent all this time just building that new Gummy ship for ya kids, all so ya can wreck it?" he then blasted several Air Soldiers, "miserable creeps! Go away! You're bad for business!"

"Speaking of which," said Sora as he blasted two Neo Shadows with a Thunder spell, "how's _The Intrepid Heart_?"

"She still needs work," said Cid, "but I won't be able to get any done if I can't work on her with all these things running around!"

"Leave that part to us," said Kairi.

After another minute or so the area was clear of baddies, "what about the rest of town?" Kairi asked, "we've got to help all those people!"

Just then Sora had a terrible thought, "the Heartless making machine! Tron! We've got to make sure the enemy doesn't get to him!"

"Leon's over there in the Posderm," said Cid, "last I heard he's okay, but someone ought to check on him!"

"We'll split up then!" said Sora, "Riku, you, Tess and Donald go to the Posderm and make sure that the Heartless making machine hasn't been activated. Kairi, you Goofy and Lyra go to the old castle. If Maleficent is behind this, then she'll probably want her old headquarters back. I'll go with Aiden and Jacob to help secure the town and get everyone to safety. We'll also meet up with Hercules and Mulan."

"Where do you want us?" Roxas asked, while Naminé also nodded in agreement.

"Uh, oh, there's only two of you," said Sora, "and three groups of three."

"Don't count me out!" said Pan, "where Lyra goes, I go."

"Actually," said Lyra, "Pan and I can go pretty far from each other, but we like to fight together."

"That's four in that group," said Roxas, "Kairi, Goofy, Lyra and Pan. I'll go with Riku's group."

"And I'll go with Sora and his group," said Naminé.

"Right!" shouted everyone. Sora, Naminé, Aiden and Jacob ran for the Marketplace, while Kairi and everyone else went up the steps towards the Bailey.

Halfway through the Marketplace, Sora and his group were ambushed by throngs of Heartless and Nobodies.

"Ever get the feeling that someone doesn't like you?" Jacob asked as he smashed one Neo Shadow after another, then swatted a Dark Ball into orbit.

"I know the feeling," said Aiden as he stabbed a Dusk, then turned the air around three Dragons into acid.

Just then Hercules jumped in and tore apart a Large Body, "all the civilians are safe! It's just a question of getting rid of these things!"

"Easier said than done!" said Mulan as she dueled four Samurai. But then Mushu hopped in front of the four sword-wielding Nobodies.

"I got this one covered!" said the little dragon. He reared back, intending to blast the Nobodies with a massive flame thrower attack, but only wound up shooting sparks at them.

"Sorry, Mushu," said Mulan, "but this is how to do it!" she picked up Mushu and then looked at Sora, "just like old times?"

"Like old times!" said Sora. They then used their Limit, starting off with a Red Rocket that destroyed a whole squad of Soldiers, then alternated between Flametongue and Heat Lance attacks, destroying more Soldiers and a few Creepers and Dusks, then finished with a Red Meteor, wiping out dozens more Heartless and Nobodies.

All the while, Pete was hurrying through the area, looking left and right for Aiden and Kairi, "where are those two brats? I gotta find them, or else Maleficent's gonna wring me outta dry. And what am I gonna do about finding Rakel and Reddik? Oh, this is all to much."

He was so preoccupied with looking left and right that Pete didn't look straight ahead and slammed into Sora. They both were knocked to the ground.

"Why don'tcha look where you're going, ya punk!" snapped Pete as he got up.

"Hey, you bumped into me!" said Sora. He and Pete then realized who they were talking to.

"You!" they both shouted. Pete jumped back and put his fists up, while Sora raised his Keyblade.

"What are you up to now?" Sora demanded.

"None of your business, brat!" snapped Pete, "I ain't got time to be messing 'round with you pipsqueak and your pipsqueak friends," he looked around, "hey, where's the rest of your friends?"

"Cleaning up the mess that Maleficent made," said Naminé, her hands blazing with white magic, "and your mess as well!"

"You guys have no idea just what's really going on," chuckled Pete. He then saw Aiden, "hey! it's you! Aiden!"

"That's my name," said Aiden, "don't wear it out!"

"Yeah, whatever," said Pete, "you're coming with me, whether you want to or not!"

"What are you talking about?" Aiden asked, "I'm not going with you, so scat, cat!"

"No way!" said Pete, "Maleficent and that demon, that Negotiator guy, they told me to grab you and Kairi."

"No way!" shouted Sora, "you're not getting my friends, not Kairi, not Aiden, none of them! You're not taking them to Maleficent, ever! And I don't know about this Negotiator guy, but he's not getting my friends either!"

"Wait," said Jacob, "the Negotiator?" He looked at Pete with demanding eyes, "is this a demon that looks human? Wearing a pinstripe suit and carrying a briefcase?"

"Yeah, that's him," said Pete, "wait, who are you?"

"You've got serious trouble on your way, Sora," said Jacob, "The Negotiator works for Gideon, and it looks like Kairi is the one he wants."

"Then Gideon is gonna get his," said Sora, "no way is he getting Kairi!"

"But why does Maleficent want me?" Aiden asked, "unless…" a shocked look dawned on his face, "no…no! It's the new Princesses of Heart! I've got the faces of the three…I mean four that we still need to find locked up in my inner mind!" He didn't want Pete or anyone associated with the darkness to know that he had just met one of the princesses, bringing the total up to four.

"The enemy must have a means of getting them out of your head," said Jacob, "I've met a lot of people who can get inside people's minds."

"That's right!" said Pete, "we're gong to learn who the other four Princesses of Heart are and where to find them," he then glared at Jacob, "and just who are you, tough guy?"

"I'm a really pissed shape shifter," said an irate Jacob.

"Well, don't that beat all," said Pete, "I've never beaten up a shape shifter before," he then raised his fists, "so put 'em up!"

"Gladly," said Jacob. He then tossed his staff to Hercules, "hold that, will you?" he then took his shirt off

"What the…?" said a confused Pete.

"Oh you're not going to do that again," said a disturbed Naminé, "It freaked me out enough the first time."

"Then you'll be used to it by now," said Jacob as he took his shoes off.

"What's he doing?" Mulan asked.

"I have no idea," said Hercules.

"I think he's flipped his wig, or something," said Mushu.

"You didn't see me fight all those Heartless for twelve hours at the castle," said Jacob as he finished undressing, "so just watch, and try not to throw up."

"I don't know what game you're playing, kiddo," said Pete as he irately crossed his arms, "but if you're trying to mess with me, you're messing with the wrong guy!"

"You think I'm messing with you now?" Jacob asked, "you haven't seen anything yet!" he then phased into his giant, brown furred wolf form. He glared and growled and Pete, who was first startled, confused and then terrified at the giant wolf that was glaring at him like the wolf wanted to rip him apart.

"Uh…nice doggie," said a sweating Pete, "nice doggie!"

Jacob took a menacing step towards Pete, then another. Pete then shouted in fright, then bolted for it, while Jacob gave chase.

Pete was so scared of the giant wolf that he shoved and threw aside any Heartless and Nobody in his path, "Get outta my way!" Sora and the others were fortunate enough to duck aside as Pete ran towards them, with Jacob right behind him.

"I have the feeling that Jacob is just playing with Pete," said Aiden, "that he's way faster than this."

"I think you're right," said Sora as they watched Jacob chase Pete around the Marketplace. But then after a few minutes Pete was worn down and Jacob snatched the oversized cat in his powerful jaws. But he didn't hurt Pete. Instead, Jacob carried Pete over to Sora and the others and threw the bungling Villain down, like a hunting dog retrieving a fallen prey to its master.

Jacob then reverted to his human form, "I didn't want to spoil my mouth with his disgusting taste."

"You won't get any arguments from me," said Aiden as he handed Jacob his clothes, who then got dressed, "this cat's rotten to the core."

"Okay, Pete," said Sora as he pointed his Keyblade at the exhausted cat, "I'm in no mood for any games, so you'd better tell the truth or else! What's Maleficent's plan?"

"You must think I'm pretty dumb if I'm gonna tell you brats anything!" said Pete as he stood up.

"You'd be dumb enough to keep quiet," said Hercules, "Sora maybe a hero, but he's mad as Tartarus, and isn't going to take anything from anybody right now."

"Don't make things worse for yourself by antagonizing Sora," said Mulan, "so do the smart thing and save your own sorry hide."

"I mean it, Pete!" said Sora, his eyes burning with rage, "tell me the truth about what's going on, or I'll show you a new way to skin a cat!"

"It's this Gideon guy," said Pete nervously, "his lackeys showed up and made a deal with Maleficent. They would give us the means to make more Nobody control rings, and a psychic demon would figure out the new Princesses of Heart from Aiden's head.

"Then we're going to give Kairi to Gideon, a no-fighting agreement, and also some sort of talisman that's been hidden somewhere in the realms."

"That's all?" Sora asked, "I'm in no mood to try and get anything else out of you."

"There's something else," said Pete, "Maleficent's all but fired the Hakonians. She's had enough of them messing up, so she's got them doing small stuff from now on."

"I was wondering why there haven't been any Hakonians leading the baddies," said Naminé.

"And there's still more," said Pete, "the Hakonians, they've got a resistance group and are gonna try and get away from Maleficent. But first they need to find their real leaders, two who they choose to lead them somewhere else. It's really complicated, so don't ask me the details, but the other Hakonians want me to find Rakel and Reddik."

"Reddik and Rakel?" Aiden asked, "those two love-sick maniacs?"

"That older Hakonian," said Sora, "Grekor, he asked me to say something to his grandson. Could Reddik be his grandson?" But then he blinked in shock, "oh no! Kairi! I sent her way outside of town! She'll be a sitting duck for the demons!"

"She's got Goofy, Lyra and Pan with her," said Naminé, "and Kairi can take care of herself, believe me, I should know."

"But we should go after her," said Aiden as he saw Sora's anxious look, "just to be safe."

"Yeah," said Sora, "we'll go now."

"What about this creep?" Mulan asked, "there's no way we can just let him go."

"He may be an idiot," said Hercules, "but he's got valuable information on the enemy."

"Just give me five minutes alone with him," said Mushu as he cracked his tiny knuckles, "I'll get him to talk."

"You? Make him talk?" Phil asked as he threw aside a scampering Shadow, "don't make me laugh! You couldn't even get a parrot to talk!"

"And you can?" Mushu asked as he glared up at Phil.

"This isn't the time for this!" said Mulan.

"Can I say something?" Pete asked.

"Hell no!" said Aiden. He then used his Alchemy to change his Keyblade into a sledgehammer and bashed Pete on the head, knocking the blundering Villain out cold.

"I didn't know a Keyblade could do that," said an impressed Hercules.

"I just figured it out," said Aiden as he changed his Keyblade back to normal, "like the other day."

"We have to warn Kairi!" said Sora. He then thought as loud and as hard as he could, _:Kairi! This whole attack is to get you and Aiden! You need to watch out! Kairi? Can you hear me? Kairi?:_

"She's not answering me," said Sora out loud, "something's wrong!"

"I can't hear her either," said Aiden, "I'll try Riku." he closed his eyes in concentration, but opened them again a few seconds later in confusion, "I can't get Riku either! Sora, are you picking up my thoughts at all?"

"I can't hear you," said Sora, "What's going on?"

"I can't hear Roxas either," said Naminé, "the enemy's jamming out telepathy somehow."

"Looks like we'll have to go warn your friends the hard way," said Jacob

"You two can tie him up and keep him company," said Aiden to Mushu and Phil, "the rest of us will go save Kairi."

"You can count un us," said Mushu.

"Just so long as you don't mess up," said Phil, "there's three words you gotta remember when guarding a prisoner; Don't Let Him Escape!"

"That's four words!" said Mushu, "learn to count already!"

"I'll stay and keep watch!" said Hercules, "and to keep these two from tearing each other apart."

"I'll help with that," said Mulan.

"Thanks a million, Herc," said Sora, "you too, Mulan." He, Aiden, Naminé and Jacob ran towards the Borough.

"Anyone up for mahjong?" Mushu asked.

"I prefer wrestling," said Phil.

"I like wrestling," said Pete as he sat up.

"Oh shut up!" snapped Hercules, Mulan, Phil and Mushu as they all punched Pete in the face, knocking him out again.

* * *

><p>"That was your home once?" Lyra asked as she, Pan, Goofy and Kairi reached the Castle Gates and saw the ruins of the castle itself.<p>

"It was," said Kairi, "I barely remember living there. Just flashes of me and my grandmother," she sighed in annoyance and depression, "I can't even remember who my real parents were."

"Aw, don't let it get you down, Kairi," said Goofy, "I'm sure it'll come back to you someday."

"I hope so," said Kairi, "I'd really like to remember who I was before the darkness took this world. I want to know more about my family," she closed her eyes, "and I'd like to remember this one thing that's been in the back of my mind for a while now, something itching in my memory that I can't help feel that it's important. It's…I can't remember!"

"Maybe I can help," said Lyra as she took out her Alethiometer.

"I wouldn't do that right now," said Pan, "the enemy might attack us at any second."

"We're alone out here, Pan," said Lyra, "if the enemy was going to get us, they would have done so before we got here."

"I don't know about that," said Kairi, "we didn't have to fight a lot of Heartless and Nobodies getting here. I think the enemy is more concerned with the rest of the world, but this would be the perfect place to spring a trap."

"I think you're right," said Lyra as she put the Alethiometer away, "we can ask about your memories later."

"You won't have a later, human!" snapped a demon as it and two others approached Kairi and the others. The demons resembled giant mutated insects; the one that spoke looked like a cross between a praying mantis and a beetle, while the other two were like wasps mixed with fire ants.

"The rest of you are already dead," said the mantis beetle, "but the redhead," it pointed its clawed forelimb at Kairi, "she's coming with us!"

"No I'm not!" said Kairi as she raised her Keyblade, "there's no way I'm going with you disgusting things!"

"And we'll help keep her away from you nasty critters!" said Goofy as he hefted his shield, while Lyra raised her sword and Pan barred his teeth menacingly.

"You don't have a choice, little girl," said one of the wasp ants, "Mr. Graves wants you, and Mr. Graves always gets what he wants."

"So Gideon Graves is responsible for this attack," said Lyra, "well, he's not going to get my friend, never!"

"Petty words for a petty human," said the other wasp ant.

"You gonna talk all day or are ya gonna fight?" Goofy asked.

"Oh we'll fight alright," said the mantis beetle, "but we'll fight our way!" it then called for another insect-like demon, only this one had the body of a centipede, the head of a spider, its mandibles dripping with venom, and the poisonous tail of a scorpion, and was 50ft long.

"That's a big demon," said Pan.

"The bigger it is," said Kairi defiantly, "the harder it'll be to miss!"

"As if our pet was the only creature you had to fight," said one of the wasp ants. It then summoned hundreds of Heartless and dozens of Nobodies.

"This doesn't look good," said Goofy nervously.

"I think we should find a better place to fight," said Pan as the giant demon and the Heartless and Nobodies began closing in on Kairi and the others.

"Normally I hate running away," said Lyra, "but this time I can make an exception."

"Then let's go already!" shouted Kairi. She then shot a pulse of magic at the demons that blinded them for a few seconds, allowing Kairi and the others to run towards the Ravine Trail.

"After them!" shouted the mantis beetle, "or Mr. Graves will have our exoskeletons for display pieces at his next nightclub!" With that the demons and other baddies ran after Kairi and the others.

* * *

><p>It took Riku, Donald, Roxas and Tess several minutes to fight their way through the Bailey, then up the full Restoration Site to the Postern. They found Leon and Yuffie outside the building, holding a defensive position against the enemy.<p>

"Sora told us to check on you," said Riku, "he's worried about the Heartless making device."

"It was secure the last time I checked," said Leon as he sliced up a lumbering Large Body, then decapitated a Berserker.

"Actually," said Yuffie as she threw a double handful of shuriken at a group of Creepers, "we've been too busy to check for a while now."

"We'll be fine out here," said Leon, "you guys make sure things are alright !"

"Right!" said Riku. He and the others ran inside and made their way through the Corridors without any trouble. But when they got to Ansem's study, they saw that things were an even bigger mess than before.

"Someone's been here," said Donald as he looked at a pile of dishelmed books, "someone's who's been looking for something."

"I think whoever or whatever it is," said Roxas as he pointed to the hallway that lead to the computer room, "is still here."

"Then he, she or it is in for a world of hurt," said Tess. Catutiously, they entered the hallway and reached the computer room. There at the terminal was a demon that had the head of a goat but the hands of a man.

It was furiously typing at the terminal, trying to locate something in the memory banks. But the computer screen showed a red message with the words "ACCESS DENIED!"

"Blasted human technology!" snapped the demon, "I'll get in yet!" it then imputed a series of commands, "search…for…Sacred…Talisman…of…Zumakalis!"

Once again the red message of "ACCESS DENIED!" appeared.

"Infernal machine!" shouted the goat demon as it slammed its hands on the keyboard, "I'll recycle you into a artificial reef!"

Just then Tron's voice came from the computer, "I doubt you'll get the chance, demon."

"Oh really?" the goat demon asked, "and what are you going to do to stop me? You're just a machine!"

"I think we can settle this without damaging private property," said Tron, "and we'll settle my way, with a little game."

"I don't have time to play games, you stupid computer!" snapped the goat demon, unaware that the digitizer beam behind him was powering up, "now give me the information on the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis! Or else I'll start taking you apart!"

"In that case," said Tron, "I'll have to defend myself, and the data contained in my memory banks."

Just then the goat demon realized that the digitizer beam was about to shoot him, but he was too late to stop it. In an instant the beam hit the demon and zapped him inside the game grid.

"Wow," said an impressed Donald, "you alright, Tron?"

"I'll be with you in a nanoclick, Donald," said Tron. An instant later, Tron's face appeared on the computer screen, "greetings, users! How are things in the real world?"

"Not good, I'm afraid," said Riku, "we've got Heartless, Nobodies and demons running amuck, and we're worried that they'd try to get to the Heartless making machine."

"As it turns out," said Tron, "the demon wasn't interested in making more Heartless. Instead, he was after a piece of data."

"Wait," said Roxas, "what happened to the demon?"

"He wound up playing a round of Light Cycles," said Tron, "I'm afraid to say that he didn't last long before he was derezzed."

"I'm not suppressed," said Riku, "but what was the demon after?"

"It said something about some kind of Talisman," said Roxas.

"The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis," said Donald, "whatever that is."

"I wish I could tell you what it is," said Tron, "but I've searched my databanks for any reference for that item, and I've come up with nothing."

"It's alright," said Riku, "if you don't know what it is, then maybe the enemy will never know."

"That's reasonable," said Tron. Just then a warning klaxon sounded, "I'm detecting a massive formation of Heartless and Nobodies heading towards the castle ruins, as well as several upper level demons." The computer screen then showed a map of the world, focusing on the Crystal Ravine. A large red mass represented the enemy, "Defense systems are in effect, but there is still the rest of the town to protect."

"So Maleficent does want the castle back," said Riku.

"Wait," said Tron, "the demons, Heartless and Nobodies are chasing four individuals," four blue dots appeared in front of the red enemy mass, running away from it, "two of which are human females."

"Kairi and Lyra!" said Tess, "we've got to help them!"

"But we'll never get to them in time!" said Roxas, "they're halfway across the Crystal Ravine by now."

"That path dead ends at the ruins of the castle," said Riku, "they're running into a trap!"

"What do we do?" Tess asked anxiously.

"We go after them of course!" said Riku.

"But we'll never make it in time!" said Roxas as he pointed at the map on the computer screen, "and according to this, there's more and more Heartless and Nobdoies appearing all the time. I can handle the Heartless alright, but all those Nobodies, I liked them better when they were on my side."

"We still have to try," said Riku, "we may get killed in the process, but we still have to try."

"I should have been killed long ago," said Tess, "what's one more hopeless situation anyway?"

"If I could interject," said Tron, "I believe that I have a solution to this problem." The digitizing beam then shot out five small boxes, the kind used to hold wristwatches. One was red, the second was yellow, the third was blue, the fourth was green and the fifth was black.

"What are these?" Riku asked as he picked up the black and red boxes, while Tess grabbed the green, yellow and blue boxes.

"It's what's inside the boxes that are truly important," said Tron, "Riku, the black one is yours, and the green one is for Tess."

Riku and Tess opened their boxes, but were confused by what they saw, "you're giving us watches?" Riku held up a black digital wristwatch with a large square screen and five buttons. Tess's watch was the same but colored green.

"It's what the watches do," said Tron, "that you'll find interesting."

"I believe it when I see it," said Tess, "and just how do you know about me anyway?"

Just then Sidney's face appeared on the screen next to Tron, "I told my digital father about you, and Aiden, and about how far Sora, Riku and Kairi have progressed in their Keyblade prowess. I hope you don't mind the disclosure of information."

"I'm sure you thought it was important," said Riku, "but what do the watches do?"

"Put them on and press the red button in the middle," said Tron, "and prepare to be amazed."

* * *

><p>"Okay, this is really bad," said Kairi as she, Goofy, Lyra and Pan found themselves backed into a corner. Behind them was the cliff edge of The Dark Depths. In front of them were the hordes of Heartless and Nobodies, lead by the three insect demons and the bigger chimerical demon.<p>

"I've been in stickier situations," said Lyra, "most of them were lies that I made up to impress my friends, but a good many were real."

"Name one that's true," said Kairi.

"There was this one time I had to walk into a hall full of armored bears and lie to their false king and trick him into fighting the rightful king," said Lyra, "And before that there was the time I was kidnapped by my power-crazed mother but I thought she was just a powerful Lady who wanted me for an assistant."

"How about the time we nearly got separated by that daemon cutting machine the gobblers had," said Pan, "now that was a sticky situation."

"Any ideas on how to get out of this?" Goofy asked.

"The only way this will end, fools," said the mantis beetle, "in which the princess comes with us and the other mortals die."

"You can either die quickly and with little pain," said one of the wasp ants, "or slowly and in mind-crushing agony."

"You're about to find that I'm not so easily intimidated," said Kairi as she hefted her Keyblade, "especially when cornered. You want me, come and get me!"

"Antagonizing the demons isn't what I call getting out of a sticky situation," said Lyra.

"It's the best I can come up with on such short notice," said Kairi.

"Can't you use your telephonathy to call Sora and the others?" Goofy asked.

"It's telepathy," said Kairi, "and I've been trying to reach Sora and the others since we started being chased, but I can't hear them at all."

"Then our efforts have been successful," said the other wasp ant, "one of our comrades has the power to negate telepathic communications."

"You're completely cut off from your pathetic friends, princess," said the mantis beetle, "so save your self and come with us."

"No!" said Sora as he, Aiden, Jacob and Naminé arrived at the far end of the area, "you're not getting Kairi!"

"Sora!" shouted Kairi joyfully.

"These things want both of us," said Aiden, "Pete confessed to everything!"

"Well then," said the wasp beetle, "I guess you truly can't count on others to do dirty work." It then addressed the chimerical insect demon, "get the Alchemist!" it then faced Kairi, "we'll get the princess."

"The hell you will!" shouted Riku as he, Tess, Roxas and Donald, appeared behind Sora and his group.

"Well what do you know," said Tess, "we made it just in time."

"Where have you been?" Jacob asked.

"We had a really interesting conversation with Tron," said Roxas, "Oh, Sora, you don't have to worry about the Heartless making machine. The demons aren't interested in it at all."

"They want some sort of talisman," said Donald.

"Pete told he was looking for a talisman," said Naminé.

"If you human filth are done jabbering," said the mantis beetle, "my comrades and I have a mission to accomplish."

"We won't let you take our friends!" said Tess as she held up her new green watch, while Riku held up his black one.

"What are those?" Aiden asked.

"Something Tron made for us," said Riku. He and Tess pressed the middle button on their watches and in a flash of light, both were incased in plated armor.

Riku's armor was black with white lines, while the helmet had tall extensions where the ears should be. Tess's armor was green and white with horizontal ear extensions.

"Wow!" said Sora, Donald and Aiden.

"Gwarsh!" said Goofy.

"Cool!" said Kairi, Naminé and Roxas.

"Awesome!" said Jacob.

"Amazing!" said Lyra.

"Fantastic!" said Pan.

"What in the nine hells?" exclaimed the mantis beetle.

"I thought there were only seven hells," said one of the wasp ants.

"There's nine," said the other wasp ant, "trust me."

"These are armor suits that Tron designed for us," said Riku, "and they're pretty sweet if you ask me."

"And they're rather fashionable if you ask me," said Tess.

"I don't care what kind of costumes you put on!" snapped the mantis beetle, "you're all going to die!" it then looked at the giant centipede demon, "kill them!"

The centipede demon then spat a glob of venom at Riku from its spider head. Riku easily dodged the venom as if it were moving in slow motion, "did I forget to mention that the suits can also enhance reflexes?"

"I can move faster without armor," said Jacob, "but they're still cool."

"Dodge this, human!" shouted one of the wasp ants. It pulled out a organic-looking crossbow that was colored yellow and black like a hornet. It then fired a bolt that was shaped like a bee stinger at Tess.

She easily caught the stinger bolt, "right back at you!" she then threw the bolt at the wasp ant, hitting it in one of its multi-faceted eyes. It howled in agony and clutched at its ruined eye, falling to the ground.

"Don't just stand there!" shouted the mantis beetle to the throngs of Heartless and Nobodies, "kill something!"

"I don't think so!" shouted Riku. He summoned his Keyblade and tore into the dark creatures, destroying several Heartless and Nobodies with each strike.

Tess meanwhile was fighting the centipede demon. It reared up with its massive length and tried to strike down at her, but she dodged each attack. The creature also tried to stink her with its scorpion tail, but she simply lopped it off with her Keyblade.

"This thing is in dire need of a shave," said Tess. She then severed several of the demons' legs, effectively immobilizing it. She then finished it off by slicing its head off.

Sora and the others were also doing their part to destroy the enemy creatures. Yet for each Heartless and Nobody that Sora, Kairi, Aiden, Donald, Goofy, Lyra, Pan, Jacob, Roxas and Naminé destroyed, Riku managed to take out three times as many, while Tess also did more than her fair share of creature vanquishing. Within minutes the area was free of Heartless and Nobodies.

"Looks like the suits do more than enhance reflexes," said Aiden, "strength and speed are also increased," he suddenly got an envious look in his eyes, "I am so getting one for my birthday!"

"Tron made one for you as well," said Riku, "and one for Kairi and Sora."

"Super awesome!" said Sora.

"What about us?" Roxas asked, while Naminé nodded in agreement.

At that Riku and Tess's armor flashed out, returning them to normal. They then gasped in exhaustion and fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Sora asked as he and the others rushed over and helped Riku and Tess up.

"Tron warned us that the suits would drain our energies faster than normal," said Riku, "that we could only wear them for a few minutes at a time at first."

"We'll get stronger with practice," said Tess.

"You won't get the chance!" shouted the mantis beetle, while the unharmed wasp ant held up its injured comrade, "we're taking the two brats!"

"The hell you will!" shouted an outraged Jacob, "it's creeps like you that are the reason I've been thrown out of my world and into this crazy universe! You separated me from my pack and my family! You took me away from my friends! But the worst of all, you took me away from Nessie!" Without bothering to take off his clothes, Jacob phased into his wolf form, his clothes ripped to shreds in the process.

"It's the shifter!" shouted the half-blind wasp ant, "Mr. Graves warned us about him!"

Jacob howled in range and rushed at the demons. He ran at the insect demons and ripped off the left arm of the mantis beetle with his teeth, then sliced the half-blind wasp ant with his claws. Jacob then grabbed the other wasp ant with his mouth and shook it to pieces, and all within ten seconds.

"Wow! Again!" said Sora.

Jacob then shifted back to human form, "I hate ruining my clothes like that, but demons just piss me off."

"I'll pay for your new wardrobe," said Aiden, "the gods know I have plenty of gold."

Our heroes then saw that the mantis beetle was still alive, barely.

"Let's finish this thing off already," said Jacob.

"Wait," said Aiden, "Remember what we learned in Dream Valley? Demons can come back in a hundred years if we don't vanquish them properly."

"That's right," said Sora, "So, anyone know how to properly destroy a demon?"

"I think I have an idea," said Kairi, a slightly distant look on her face. She walked over to the half-dead demon, "your master wants to take me, why I don't know. But I'm not going to let him have his way."

"You stupid, stupid girl," gasped the demon, "just because I'm about to die, doesn't mean that its over. Mr. Graves will have you for himself! And Maleficent will have the alchemist as well!"

"No way is that gonna happen!" said Sora.

"Wait," said Riku, "I got to ask it something." He walked over to the demon, "what's this about this talisman you were looking for?"

"None of your damn business, human!" said the demon.

"We'll find out on our own," said Kairi, "but as for you," she raised her hands, which glowed bright white, "demon…be gone!" she blasted the demon with white magic and it vanished with a flash.

"How'd you do that?" Sora asked.

"I don't know," said Kairi, "I…I guess it was something my grandmother taught me before everything went to hell here, before the darkness took over."

"Is that what you were tryin' to remember?" Goofy asked.

"No," said Kairi, "this just popped into my head just now. That other thing, that's still itching in the back of my mind."

"Well one thing's for sure," said Roxas, "our lives just became much more interesting."

"You can say that again," said Riku as he handed the red box to Sora, the blue box to Kairi and the yellow box to Aiden, "these are for your guys."

"So we all have armor?" Sora asked as he, Kairi and Aiden took out their respective colored watches, "awesome!"

* * *

><p>…Twilight Town…<p>

"I think we've got this taken care of," said Hayner as he, Pence, Olette, Nessie, Will and Kirjava, met up at the Usual Spot, having finished destroying all the Heartless and Nobodies in town.

"They're not so tough," said Olette.

"Especially since we've got two super powered friends," said Pence, "and one awesome Daemon."

"Flattery won't get you far with me," said Kirjava as she winked at Pence.

"Forgive me for making my new friends look like amateurs," said Will, "but I can't help but feel that things were too easy."

"I feel that way too," said Nessie, "these were just the grunts. The main baddies are still out there."

Just then a loud explosion occurred from across town.

"That came from the Old Mansion!" shouted Pence. They all ran across town, through the Woods and arrived in front of the dilapidated building. A large crater had appeared in the lawn leading to the front door of the old house .

In front of the crater were two demons. One looked to be a mix of a crocodile and a rhino, while the other was a cross between a shark and a gorilla.

"Something's wrong," said the crocodile rhino, "that spell should have gotten through the force field."

"There shouldn't even be a force field here," said the gorilla shark, "the intelligence provided by Mr. Graves shouldn't have been flawed."

"What does Gideon Graves want with this place?" Nessie demanded.

"Mr. Graves seeks a rare and powerful talisman," said the shark gorilla in an annoyed tone, as if it had explained the situation already, "one that's been hidden somewhere in the realms." The demon and its comrade then realized that they weren't alone. They turned around and saw Nessie, Hayner and the others. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," said Nessie.

"Wait," said the crocodile rhino, "you're that girl, the one Mr. Graves rejected."

For some reason this got Nessie really mad, "Gideon's the reason I've been separated from the ones I love! And I'm going to practice killing that monster by ruining you two bastards with my anger!"

"Ruin this, half-breed!" snapped the crocodile rhino. It then shot a flamethrower attack at Nessie, who then panicked and ran from the flames like it was the plague.

"As I said," said the crocodile rhino, "a reject!"

"Nobody calls my friend a reject!" snapped Olette. She blasted the crocodile rhino with a Thunder spell, but it dodged it.

The gorilla shark then shot several dark spheres at Olette, but Pence blocked the curses with his fist shields.

Hayner then attacked the gorilla shark with his sword, but the demon dodged the attack. Ii then blasted Hayner, but he deflected the curse, then attacked again, only to miss.

Will then attacked the gorilla shark, but wound up dodging a curse from the crocodile rhino.

"You humans are nothing compared to us!" said the crocodile rhino, "we'll find the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis and destroy it! And Mr. Gideon will have the girl he desires! He will have Kairi of Radiant Garden!"

"Idiot!" snapped the gorilla shark, "don't tell them the plan!"

"Kairi?" a shocked Olette asked, "your boss wants Kairi!"

"No way we're letting that happen!" snapped Hayner.

"Kairi's our friend!" said Pence, "and we'll keep her safe from creeps like you!"

"As if you could do anything to stop it!" said the gorilla shark, "right now my comrades are taking the girl to Mr. Gideon. We should be receiving the victory text right about…" it summoned a blackberry, "now," it looked at the device, waiting to see the expected text, but no such message came.

"Looks like your master isn't getting what he wants after all," said Will.

"I don't understand," said the gorilla shark, "the plan was perfect, what could have gone wrong?"

"Me, for starters!" shouted Kirjava as she ran beneath the demon and sliced its heals with her claws. Crippled, the gorilla shark fell to the ground, where Will stabbed it in the head with his sword, destroying the foul creature.

"Bastard humans!" shouted the crocodile rhino. It reared back to shoot a massive flamethrower attack, but Nessie got behind it and tried to kick it. It dodged her and jumped away.

"You'll have to do better with that, half-bread!" it spat.

"You want to see my best!" shouted Nessie, "I'll give you my best!" her hands then began crackling with blue lightning.

"What's going on?" Hayner asked.

"It's magic of some kind," said Will.

"It is magic," said Olette, "I can feel it."

The blue lightning then condensed into a sphere twice the size of a baseball in Nessie's hands, "you want my best, demon?" she shouted, "here's my best!" she then shot the ball of lighting at the demon.

It tried to get out of the way but the blue lightning ball hit it in the midsection and punched through its back, breaking its spine in the process. The demon fell to the ground face up.

"You're just full of surprises," said an astonished Pence to Nessie.

"Thanks," said Nessie as she breathed deeply in order to calm down.

"But what kind of magic was that?" Olette asked.

"A special kind," said Nessie, "one that just about anyone on my world can learn, but only a few can fully master it. I told you I can use some magic, and that spell was the most advanced that I've learned so far. There are other spells I can use, but none as powerful."

"Then you are indeed weak!" spat the demon as it tried to crawl away, "so weak that Mr. Graves declared you a waist of his time! You're a reject; a waste of life that will never fit in among humans! Or anywhere else for that matter! And your choice in men is just as pathetic!"

"Don't you talk like that about Jacob!" shouted Nessie as she angrily walked over to the crippled demon.

"I'll say anything I want about that mutt!" said the demon, "you're never going to see your dog again. He's probably forgotten about you already, you freak!"

Nessie loomed over it, her eyes burning with fury and spoke with cold rage, "I maybe a freak of nature, but I'm proud of my double heritage. And you're time is up!" she then ripped the creature's throat out with her teeth, biting through the vile flesh and tissue like it was butter. The demon died while Nessie spat out it's foul-tasting blood.

"I hate this stuff," said Nessie as she spat again, "I'm going to use up half a tube of paste before I get this filth out of my mouth." She then saw that Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava were looking at her like she was a completely different person.

"Oh, you saw me do that," said Nessie in a sheepish tone, "well, I guess I have some explaining to do."

"You ain't kidding," said Pence, while Hayner, Olette, Will and Kirjava nodded in agreement.

**The end of chapter 3.**

Next chapter finds Nessie telling her friends the truth about herself, while Sora and the others plan what to do next. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4: Heading out for the Worlds

Last time found Jacob and Nessie finishing up their stories for Sora, Hayner and the others, and just in time. Maleficent ordered the demons to, briefly, negate the protective magic of the sealed Keyholes and launched a massive attack on the worlds. Sora and his group successfully defended Radiant Garden against the Heartless, Nobodies and demons, while capturing Pete and learning of the baddies' plans, sort of. At the same time, Riku and Tess showed off the new armor that Tron made for our heroes.

Over in Twilight Town, Hayner and his friends teamed up with Nessie, Will and Kirjava and defended their world. But then Nessie revealed more to her friends than she should have. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 4: Heading out for the Worlds**

…Twilight Town…

Nessie loomed over the demon, her eyes burning with fury and spoke with cold rage, "I maybe a freak of nature, but I'm proud of my double heritage. And you're time is up!" she then ripped the creature's throat out with her teeth. The demon died while Nessie spat out it's foul-tasting blood.

"I hate this stuff," said Nessie as she spat again, "I'm going to use up half a tube of paste before I get this filth out of my mouth." She then saw that Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava were looking at her like she was a completely different person.

"Oh, you saw me do that," said Nessie in a sheepish tone, "well, I guess I have some explaining to do."

"You ain't kidding," said Pence, while Hayner, Olette, Will and Kirjava nodded in agreement.

A short time later found the five youngsters and daemon back in The Usual Spot. The destruction of the demons seemed to signal the end of the battle, for no fresh enemies had appeared in town. With things calm for the moment, the time had come for words among the friends. They sat down and Nessie began talking.

"Okay," said Nessie, "I admit I haven't been completely honest with you, and for that I'm sorry, really sorry, like super sorry. But you have to understand; where I'm from, it's forbidden for me to talk about this. I already said that I once got my family into trouble by showing off, and you'll be in just as much trouble if _they _find out what happened here."

"So we won't tell _them_," said Hayner, "whoever _they _are. But that still leaves you."

"True," said Nessie, "but I still can't talk about what I really am. I can't openly tel you, only confirm what you say. You're going to have to figure it out for yourselves, like my mother did with my father."

"We have to figure out for ourselves?" Olette asked hesitantly, "well…okay."

"I already have a pretty good guess," said Will, "but I want to know if you three can put it together."

"But we'll help if you need it," said Kirjava.

"I think we'll be fine," said Pence, "so…what do we know about you, Nessie?"

"For starters," said Olette in a comteplative manner, "you're really strong and fast. You made those Heartless and Nobodies look like nothing."

"You're nearly indestructible," said Pence, "but you avoid fire like it's the plague."

"Your skin glows a bit in sunlight," said Hayner, "and unless I'm wrong, you look a bit older than you did when you showed up yesterday."

"You're right," said Nessie in a mildly suprised tone, "I am aging faster than normal, but it's slowing down. In a year or so I'll age normally for a while, then it'll slow down even further. Eventually I'll stop aging all together." She smiled, "you must be really special to have noticed that."

"I only see what i see," said Hayner.

"Just how old are you?" Pence asked Nessie.

"Don't ask a girl her age," said an annoyed Olette.

"It's alright," said Nessie, "I don't mind. How old do you think I am?"

"I'd say you look about our age," said Olette, "like 15 or something."

"But how old is she really?" Hayner asked.

"I just turned 5," said Nessie.

"No way!" said a shocked Pence, "that can't be right!"

"It's true," said Nessie, "I just celebrated my fifth birthday. My parents told me that as soon as I look 16, they'll take me to get my driver's license. I already know how to drive from watching my family drive, but my mother wants me to at least try to do things normally, if only to keep the illusion for the humans sake."

"This is too weird," said Pence.

"You think that's weird?" Olette asked, "try this; last night I followed Nessie to the woods behind the Old Mansion. I saw her chase a herd of deer, kill some of them and drink their blood."

"No way!" said both Hayner and Pence.

"That's impossible!" snapped Nessie, "you couldn't have followed me! I would have heard you, or at least smelled you, even if you were downwind of me."

"Well I did see you," said Olette in an insisting manner, "I thought it was a dream, but now I'm totally convinced of what I saw."

"But you couldn't have been there," said Nessie, "you were still in bed when I got back to your place, and don't antagonize me about admitting I was out hunting last night. The issue now is how you could have seen me. You couldn't have…unless…wait, you said you thought it was a dream?"

"That's right," said Olette, "I followed you to the woods, but when I saw you drink that deer's blood, I kinda freaked out, and woke up screaming."

At that Nessie smiled, "Then you really were dreaming, but you still saw me. When I was training with those super humans, and magic users by the way, they told me about all sorts of mental and physical powers, and one power that I really liked hearing about was astral projection, or farsight. Olette, you saw me with your mind while you were dreaming."

"I guess that makes sense," said Olette, "first I find out there's other worlds out there, then I discover I can use magic, and now I have a psychic power."

"But that still doesn't explain what Nessie is," said Pence, "what, is she some kind of vampire or something?"

"Close enough," said Nessie, "now that you accused me of being a vampire, I can admit that I am only half vampire. My mother was still human when she gave birth to me."

"So your father, the sick masochistic lion," said Olette, "he's a vampire who married the stupid lamb?"

"And Jacob, the wolf," said Pence, "what, is he a werewolf?"

"Not a werewolf," said Nessie, "he can turn into a wolf, but he's not a werewolf."

"Just what kind of world do you come from?" Hayner asked.

"A world that's only normal on the outside," said Will, "I was told about vampires and shape shifters from a reliable source."

"And what source would that be?" Nessie asked, "I'm not the only one with a secret here."

"She's right," said Kirjava, "we have been withholding information."

"Alright," said Will, "first of all, everything I told you guys so far is true. What I didn't tell you was that while I was traveling the multiverse with Lyra, there was someone who helped Lyra and me discover our true feelings for each other. Her name is Mary Malone, a scientist who experimented with dark matter, otherwise known as Dust.

"After I was forced to say goodbye to Lyra, I went back out my world with Dr. Malone. She helped me help my mother, who, I should have told you this before, wasn't at all well in the head. I should have also told you that my father disappeared when I was very young. He went over to Lyra's world in one of those holes that was cut by the Subtle Knife over the ages.

"Anyway, after things calmed down on my world, Dr. Malone was offered a position in a top secret organization that was dedicated to keeping our world safe from supernatural threats, such as demons and Heartless; The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense."

"The organization I trained with was called The Watchtower Initiative," said Nessie.

"They're both the same thing," said Will, "The Bureau in my world had the technology to communicate with other organizations across universal barriers. At the time they could only talk to a few other worlds, and Lyra's wasn't one of them, to my disappointment.

"But as for The Bureau, they had known about Nessie's world as well, but hadn't been able to talk to them yet. They knew about vampires and shape shifters, and also the threat of Gideon Graves. They had psychics who could see into other worlds, and they saw what happened to Nessie.

"The Bureau had other psychics who predicted that Nessie would need help getting home, and to help find The Keyblade Wielders. I had just finished my Ki training, so I volunteered to go help. My mother was in good hands with Dr. Malone and my friends at The Bureau, so they used a dimensional teleportation device that was a combination of magic and science.

"This was an experimental device, so there was no sure guarantee that I would arrive near Nessie, let alone arrive on the same world."

"Personally," said Kirjava, "I think we handled the landing quite well. We could have landed on top of a volcano on some other world, or someplace worse."

"You could have wound up right in front of Gideon's inner circle," said Nessie, "the League of Evil Exes."

"Who are they?" Olette asked.

"Six horrible people who all fell for the same woman and were each rejected in turn," said Nessie, "they're all highly accomplished martial artists, each with a supernatural ability that makes them extremely dangerous," she sighed, "they were the ones who kidnapped and took me to Gideon, and he's the most evil of them all. He wanted to put a mind-controlling computer chip on me, thought I doubt that would work on a half vampire.

"Either way, I wasn't the one he wanted, so he sent me away, literary. He ripped a hole in the fabric of reality and Jacob and I fell through. We're both lost, and now I'm afraid that the one Gideon really wants is one of the people I'm here to help."

"Kairi," said Olette, "we have to get out there and find her, and Sora and the rest of his friends."

"How much longer will it take to get our ship ready?" Pence asked.

"At least another hour," said Hayner, "and then another 30 minutes to double check everything."

"Just tell me what to do," said Nessie, "and I'll get the ship ready to go in under half an hour, I'm that fast."

"I'll bet you can do all that needs to be done that quickly," said Hayner.

"You're taking my being half vampire really well," said Nessie, "most humans would be crawling up the walls if they find out that vampires are real."

"Just because you're half monster doesn't make you any less a friend," said Olette.

"People are people," said Pence, "even undead, bloodsucking people."

"Well I'm hardly undead," laughed Nessie, "I've got a pulse and I sleep, deeply, which is a good thing considering how much my parents love each other."

"What do you mean?" Pence asked.

At that Nessie blushed, "well…" she said in an uncomfortable tone, "when you don't need to sleep or rest at all, you find that you have all sorts of free time, and you find really interesting ways to fill that free time, especially in bed."

"Oh," said Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava in an uncomfortable tone.

"And as for the bloodsucking," said Nessie, "my family, we see ourselves as vegetarians. Most vampires on my world do drink human blood, but with my family, we only drink animal blood, which is harder than you think."

"How so?" Olette asked.

"Vampires are naturally drawn to human blood," said Nessie, "you didn't comment on how strong my senses are. I can see and hear several times farther than humans can," she leaned over and touched Olette's shirt sleeve, "I can count the number of threads in a piece of cloth just by feeling it, and my sense of smell is even stronger. We vampires hunt with our sense of smell, and the scent of human blood is the most desirable scent for vampires.

"It stirs up our hunting instinct, and once we taste human blood, all thoughts are driven out, sending us into a feeding frenzy. It's nearly impossible for a vampire to stop hunting once the desire starts, and it won't stop until the thirst is quenched.

"Most of the time the desire can be controlled, allowing vampires to blend in among humans so as not to attract attention. The last thing we want is to be noticed, because, of course, humans are afraid of monsters and if given the chance, they'll destroy that monster, as if they could even catch us.

"Anyway, as I said, my family is different from other vampires. It started with my immortal grandfather, Carlisle. He became a vampire over 300 years ago, and to this day has never tasted human blood. He found out at the beginning that animal blood is just as thirst-quenching. He was able to control his vampire urges, and then he taught my father, Edward, how to control his urges. Carlisle taught in my family, Grandma Esme, Aunt Rosalie, Uncle Emmet, Aunt Alice, Uncle Jasper, and our cousins in Alaska, how to ignore the urges and desires for human blood. As for my mother, Bella, she was a natural when she became a vampire. Her first time hunting, she caught the scent of nearby humans and nearly went after them, but she held her breath and ran until she couldn't smell them anymore."

"You sound like blood is like a drug or something," said Pence.

"In a way, it is," said Nessie. She took a breath through her nose, tasting the scent of everyone in the room, "I learned by the time I was a few days old to ignore the urges to hunt and kill humans. But for most of my family, it took decades to be strong enough in mind and heart. Aunt Rosalie has been lucky to never taste human blood, and my father has been in control for most of his life, with one or two mishaps a decade. Oh, he's killed humans alright, but only those who deserved to die, like criminals and other wastes of life, and on my world there's more than a few of those types. Yet my father never wanted to be a killer, never a monster."

"You sound as if being turned into a vampire was a matter of choice for your family," said Olette.

"It was for most of them," said Nessie, "my father was dieing of Spanish Flu when Grandpa Carlisle found him. He offered my father the choice he never had, and my father took it. The same thing happened when they found Grandma Esme, who was also dieing, and then with Aunt Rosalie. Uncle Emmet was a different matter; Aunt Rosalie found him being mauled by a bear. He reminded her of someone she knew when she was still human and she carried him to Carlisle and begged him to change Emmet, and he did. Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper were already vampires when they met and joined the family.

"But my mother, she wandered into my father's life like a whirlwhind. When my mother was still human, her scent, her blood, was the most desirable of all desires to my father. He was strong enough to resist the urges and tried to get her to forget about him, but they were both hooked on each other by then, they just needed a while longer to realize it.

"As for me and my mother, we both know the taste of human blood. With my mother, she was forced to drink human blood when I was still in her. My accelerated growth was draining the life from her and human blood was the only thing that would keep us both strong until I was ready to be born. Mother stayed away from human blood afterwards, but I still drank it until I was strong enough to hunt animals, which didn't take very long.

"I still have the desires to taste human blood, and I'll have those desires for the rest of my life, which is going to be a very, very, very long time."

"Uh…should we be worried that you're going to eat us?" Pence asked nervously, while Olette, Hayner, Will and Kirjava looked equally nervous.

"Not unless one of you slices open a major blood vessel," said a smiling Nessie, "I can keep my hunting instincts in check, so long as I get to hunt every couple of days. I can eat human food, but it's just not as appetizing. Of course, human food never appealed to vampires in the first place; no active digestive system."

"Well they gotta eat human food sometimes," said Hayner, "otherwise they'll attract attention from humans."

"True," said Nessie, "vampires do have to keep up appearances. But then the food just sits in their non-functioning stomachs. Don't ask me how we digest blood, it's far too complicated. But as for human food, it just sits there, so you have to get rid of it. That's not a pleasant sight to see. Vampires have no gag reflex, so it's a matter of standing on your head, lining up the esophagus and letting gravity take its course."

"I wish you hadn't told us that," said Will in a slightly nauseated manner.

"I wish I hadn't seen my mother do that after coming home from her high school reunion," said Nessie, "still, it was nice to go with her and meet all her friends; Mike, Jessica, Eric, Angela… and of course papa and Jacob were there."

She stood up and stretched, "Well, enough of that. We can talk more about vampires later, so let's get _The Voyaging Light _ready so we can go save the universe."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Hayner, while Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava nodded in agreement. With that they headed back to the starship port on the other side of town.

* * *

><p>…Radiant Garden…<p>

"How much longer is it going to be, Cid?" Sora asked as our heroes reached the dock next to the Restoration Site.

"I managed to get halfway done before them Heartless and other things attacked," said Cid, "So it'll be at least a couple of hours before the ship will be ready to go."

"In which case we'll be stuck here in case the enemy wants to attack again," said Riku.

"The enemy wants us," said Aiden, "me and Kairi."

"But they also want that talisman," said Kairi, "whatever it is."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about your own life?" Tess asked, "than some crummy talisman?"

"I'm more worried about the people of this world," said Kairi, "if Maleficent wants me and Aiden, then the sooner we get away from any innocents, the better."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Aiden asked as he pulled out a stick of chalk, "Cid, what else is needed to get _The Intrepid Heart _flying again?"

Cid then told Aiden exactly what was needed to fix the ship in an extensive techno-jargon dialogue, "does that answer your question?"

"I got more than I wanted," said Aiden, "but I think I can speed things up. Just provide all the raw materials, including replacement parts, and I'll get the ship going."

"How?" Jacob asked.

"He's an alchemist," said Lyra, "he can fix anything."

"Almost anything," said Aiden as he proceeded to draw a massive transmutation circle around _The Intrepid Heart_, "everything with Alchemy needs balance. The Law of Equivalent Exchange; _'to obtain, something of equal value must be lost.'_ The larger the transmutation, the more energy I have to put into it, and the greater the risk of hurting myself, or worse, end up horribly maiming myself, or even worse, end up dead."

He looked at _The Intrepid Heart_, "this particular transmutation won't kill me, but it won't be a walk in the park either."

"Then why are you doing it if there's so big a risk?" Pan asked.

"Because like Kairi said," said Aiden, "we have to get out of here before the enemy decides to make another appearance," his chalk stick then broke, "damn it! This type of Alchemy needs to be perfect or it won't work!" He kept going with the bigger of the chalk pieces.

"You're making a Grand Arcadium circle," said Riku, "the kind Ed and Al used to try to bring their mother back to life."

"Which is why I need total concentration if this is going to work without something terrible happening," said an irate Aiden as he was forced to erase part of the drawing and start over on that part, "so if you people don't mind, I'd like to be alone so I can focus!"

"Alright already, grouch head," said Tess, "we'll leave you alone."

"Just don't push yourself to hard," said Sora as he and everyone else left the area.

"Believe me," said Aiden, "the last thing I need is to kill myself right now when there's so much going on."

"He's under a lot of pressure," said Kairi, "and so am I."

"You don't look like it," said Yuffie as she and Leon walked up.

"I guess I have a natural pressure relief in my head," said Kairi, "I've been thinking about what happened, about how I vanquished that demon. I'm convinced it was something my grandmother taught me, but I could be wrong," she sighed, "I'll figure it out later when we all have time to think."

"There's something else that we need to think about," said Leon, "like how Maleficent got all those Heartless and Nobodies here."

"She did something to the Keyhole," said Sora, "I don't know what she did, but she did it."

"Then we'll have that to work on as well," said Kairi. She then sighed, "right, no pressure."

"I've been trying to figure out what the enemy did," said Lyra as she held up her golden compass, "but again, there's something interfering with the Alethiometer."

"Probably the same thing that messed with our telepathy," said Riku.

"Which is working now by the way," said Roxas, while Naminé nodded in agreement.

Just then Mulan and Hercules walked up, "if you guys don't mind," said Mulan, "we'd like to sign on as passengers."

"If the enemy attacked this world," said Hercules, "then our worlds are in danger as well."

"That's right," said Sora, "if this worlds' Keyhole was messed with, then the other Keyholes could have been messed with as well."

"Then we'd better get going," said Phil as he and Mushu walked up.

"Ain't nobody mess with my world," said Mushu, "or they're gonna have to deal with this real dragon."

"You're more like a Junior dragon," said Phil.

"Don't even get started," said Mulan.

"You were getting along when you were guarding Pete," said Hercules.

"Speaking of which," said Sora, "where is he?"

Just then Merlin popped in, "I believe I can answer that. I had the bumbling oaf locked up in a special cell," he then showed Pete sitting in a cage in a room somewhere in the Restoration site, looking very happy, "he's trapped in his own little world, where, as he would say, he is 'Number One!'"

"I guess that's okay for him," said Sora, "but what happens if Maleficent sends another attack and try to get him?"

"I doubt that Maleficent would want him back," said Mulan, "before Merlin but the whammy on him, Pete woke up and said something about this being his last chance with Maleficent, that she flatly told him not to come back if he messes this up."

"That ain't right," said Goofy, "didn't he say that he was supposed to go find Reddik and Rakel?"

"I don't know if that story is true," said Riku, "sounded like a bunch of crap. The Hakonians all swore loyalty to Maleficent, so why would they break their oath?"

"I can find that out easily enough," said Lyra. She asked the Alehtiometer, and was soon rewarded with the answer, "the Hakonians, they've been rejected for failing so many times. Now they want to get away from Maleficent and start anew somewhere else.

"And the ones called Reddik and Rakel, they're not who they believe themselves to be. They think themselves to be born into the ruling class, but their lower-class ancestors infiltrated the gentry in order to produce potential leaders who will free the repressed masses from the tyranny of the few."

"Then Reddik is Grekor's grandson," said Riku, "he must have been one of the infiltrators. I had no idea that the Hakonians were slaves to a hegemony system."

"And all those Hakonians who were killed by the Daleks," said Kairi, "they were innocent, kinda innocent I mean. And they were people, real people. They only acted evil because they had no choice."

"So what you're saying is that we have to save a bunch of baddies from even worse baddies," sighed Tess, "great."

"But there's still that message Grekor told me to give to his grandson," said Sora, "if Reddik is that person, then why did Grekor wanted me to say Klaatu barata nito?"

"That's not the words," said Kairi, "he said Klaatu verada nikto."

"You're both wrong," said Riku, "the words were Klaatu barada niktu, or was it necto?"

"It was Klaatu barada nikto," said an exhausted Aiden as he walked out of the ship bay. He collapsed to the ground, looking as if he had just run a marathon "note to self; never use a Grand Arcadium circle after fighting a Heartless battle."

"You okay?" Sora asked as he and the others rushed over.

"I've been better," said a still sweating Aiden, "I still hadn't fully recovered from repairing the Wave Motion Engine aboard _The Yamato_. Combined that with the fighting we did today and fixing the ship, I'll be lucky to have enough energy to fix a toaster for a while."

"You've done more than enough to satisfy everyone," said Sidney as she walked towards our heroes wearing her mobile emitter, "_The Intrepid Heart _is as good as new," she looked at Aiden and smiled, her digital eyes full of gratitude, "if I had a body of flesh and blood, I'd totally date you."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Aiden. He then passed out and started snoring.

"He's had it for now," said Jacob, "I've seen it when you're pushed too far over your limit."

"Which leaves us with the burning question of who's going to carry his sorry hide back to the ship," said Tess.

"Not it!" said Riku.

"Not it!" said both Kairi and Aiden.

"Not it!" said Jacob.

"I'll do it," said Hercules. He effortless picked up Aiden and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Before we go," said Riku, "we'll need a plan. What are we going to do about the fact that Maleficent is after Kairi and Aiden?"

"I'll tell you one thing I'm going to do," said Tess, "the next demon that comes after my friends is going to get his throat cut," she pulled out a straight razor.

"Just how many of those things do you have?" Riku asked.

"Enough to start my own barber shop if I want to," said Tess.

"Well just keep those things away from my neck," said Jacob, "I do my own shaving and haircuts, thank you very much."

"I never liked haircuts in the first place," said Lyra.

A few minutes later found our heroes aboard _The Intrepid Heart_, with Aiden asleep in his bunk, while Jacob was taking instructions from Sidney about Aiden's engineering station on the bridge.

"Should be easy," said Jacob, "just press the right buttons when they need to be pressed."

"You still don't get it," said Sidney, "not only are you responsible for maintaining the engine functions, you're also analyzing the sensor data. Do I have to go through everything again? No, I'll do one better," a ship's manual appeared next to Jacob, "just read that."

"Believe me, it's worth reading," said Sora. He then whispered, "if only to stop Sidney from harping on you."

"Right," said Jacob.

"What should I do?" Lyra asked, "I don't want to be just a passenger."

"You're not just a passenger," said Kairi, "but all the positions are filled for the crew."

"I think I have an idea on what you can do, Lyra," said Sora, "you can use your truth…thing, whatever it is…"

"Alethiometer," said both Lyra and Pan.

"Right," said Sora, "so, you can use that to help us make the right decisions, 'cause if things are as bad as I hope they're not, then we're going to need all the help we can get."

"You'll be our Truth Seer," said Kairi to Lyra.

"Truth Seer," said Lyra in a thoughtful tone, "I like that. Yes, I'll do it."

"Then I'll make it official," said Sidney. She closed her eyes as her computer body worked, then opened her digital eyes and looked at Lyra, "Lyra Silvertongue, you are now an officially registered crew member of _The Intrepid Heart_, as Truth Seer, with all the rights and privileges that go with it," she looked at Jacob, "and Jacob Black, you're now our acting engineer, with all the rights and privileges that go with that role."

"Great," said Jacob, "and what rights and privileges are we talking about?"

"Well first of all," said Sora, "we all take turns cleaning the ship, cooking and doing the laundry."

"Doesn't the ship do that stuff for us?" Jacob asked.

"I don't do cooking, cleaning or laundry," said Sidney, "it's not part of my digital profile."

"I'm a fair cook," said Lyra, "and I can work your cleaning machines if you tell me how, I'm a fast learner."

"We'll work out who does what chores soon enough," said Kairi, "so, how much longer until we can get underway?"

"Just a few more minutes while I run a final preflight check on the ship," said Sidney.

"Then we have time to answer one last question," said Kairi. She looked at Lyra, "you told us about your world and your adventures, but you still haven't told us how you got here?"

"I was sent here," said Lyra, "by those who knew that there would be a need of me here, and they were right."

"A while after we got back from traveling the worlds," said Pan, "after we said goodbye to Will and Kirjava, Lyra and I were contacted by a secret society that existed beneath the notice of The Authority. This group was dedicated to keeping watch for evil. There wasn't anything they could do to stop the church from repressing everyone, but they could fight demons and other foul things that wanted to plunge the world into darkness."

"They called themselves The Watchtower Initiative," said Lyra, "and they were made up of humans and daemons with extraordinary powers. Some could move things with their minds, others were really strong and fast.

"There were also magic users, mostly witches from the north. I did mention that I was really good friends with the queen of one of the northern clans, Serafina Pekkala. She sometimes worked with The Initative, but only when it's a big problem, and this was one.

"It was Serafina's magic, combined with a new device made by experimental theologians, and don't ask me what it was or how it worked, all I know is that it did work, it sent me to this other world when The Bureau found out that Gideon Graves was at work, trying to spread darkness everywhere.

"Serafina said that since I was relarning how to use the Alethiometer so quickly, I'd be able to go to this other world and help stop Gideon, and also to help find someone who was lost," she looked at Jacob, "your Nessie, she's the one I need to help find."

"So now you're here to help us," said Sora.

"That's right," said Lyra, "I stepped into the machine and the experimental theologians…I mean scientists…that's what you call them, they said that they would…what's the world? Teleport, that's it. The machine would teleport me to the world where I was needed, and the visions the witches had, they would get me close to the people I needed to help."

"Truth be told," said Jacob as he felt the back of his head, "she landed right on top of me just before I was going to fight all those Heartless at the castle."

"It could have been worse," said Pan.

"I nearly broke my head open on landing," said Lyra. She looked at Jacob, "you've got a head like a rock."

"That's nothing," said Jacob, "this one time, when Bella was still human and I was still infatuated with her, I kissed her without warning, and she punched me on the face and broke her hand."

"I'll be that must have hurt," said Riku.

"Not as much as how I felt about her being hurt," said Jacob.

Just then several lights across the bridge blinked green, "everything checks out," said Sidney, "we can leave any time now."

"Then let's get underway," said Sora as he sat in the captain's seat, while everyone else took their stations.

A few minutes later _The Intrepid Heart _took off and was in orbit around Radiant Garden, "Okay," said Sora, "where to first?"

A holographic image of the worlds appeared on the bridge. "We can go to either The Land Of Dragons or Olympus Coliseum first," said Sora, "we can drop off either Hercules or Mulan first."

Herc and Mulan looked at each other, then played Rock Paper Scissors, with Mulan winning. "Looks like you're dropping me off first," said Mulan.

"Then that's where we'll go," said Sora, "Riku, set course for The Land of Dragons."

"Course laid in," said Riku, "ready to go on your word, captain!"

"Then let's go," said Sora. He then looked at Jacob, Lyra and Pan, "this is your first time traveling in hyperspace, right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Jacob, while Lyra and Pan nodded in agreement.

"Then you'd better hold on to something," said Riku as he pressed the buttons that accelerated the ship into hyperspace, "your first experience can be pretty rough."

"It's unpleasantly like being drunk," said Tess as the engines powered up.

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" Lyra asked.

"You ask a glass of water," said Sidney. The ship then jumped into hyperspace, causing Jacob, Lyra and Pan to nearly throw up.

"I told you wouldn't like it," said Riku.

"Now he tells us," said a slightly green Jacob.

"It'll get easier later on," said Sora, "trust me."

"We're seven hours flight time from The Land of Dragons," said Sidney, "there may be some subspace turbulence along the way, but nothing too rough."

"In that case," said Riku as he set the helm on autopilot, "it'll give me a chance to finish kicking Sora's butt in Halo."

"Dream on!" said Sora.

"You've got Halo here?" Jacob asked as he grinned eagerly, "the only one's who's getting their asses kicked are you guys."

"Bring it on!" said Sora. With that he, Riku and Jacob headed fro the game room.

"I want to play Halo!" said Roxas as he hurried after them, "wait up!"

"I'm guessing that they're off to play something violent," said Lyra.

"The only thing that's in danger is their brains rotting," said Kairi, "but it's okay that they have their fun."

"Why's that?" Naminé asked.

"It gives me a chance to play captain for a while," said Kairi as she sat in the captain's seat and fount it to her liking.

"I'd sail with you anywhere, Captain Kairi," said Naminé.

"Steady as she goes, first mate Naminé," said Kairi jokingly, "Steady as she goes."

* * *

><p>"I hope they'll be alright," said Areith as she, Leon, Yuffie and Cid watched from the top of the Bailey as <em>The Intrepid Heart <em>left the atmosphere.

"Ah, they'll be fine," said Cid, "them kids are all but indestructible. I'm more worried about that ship of theirs. The kinda trouble Sora and the others get into, it'll be murder on the ship, and I'm the poor sap who hasta fix her."

"I'm more worried about Jacob and Lyra," said Yuffie, "they're both fish out of water, and they're hurting worse than they let us on to be."

"What are you talking about?" Cid asked, "they both seemed okay to me."

"She means that their hearts are hurting," said Leon, "and their pain is only going to get worse, unless Sora and the others find the cure for their heartaches."

"I hope so too," said Areith.

* * *

><p>…Twilight Town…<p>

"Okay," said Hayner as he made one last adjustment to _The Voyaging Light_, "we're all set to go."

"About time," said Nessie, "I'm really itching to go."

"I thought vampires didn't have that kind of problem," said Will.

"I do sometimes," said Nessie as she scratched an itch on her arm, "it's part of being half human. Sleep, eating and other stuff, it's all a fair price to pay when you're going to be young and beautiful forever."

"You really are immortal?" Olette asked as they all began loading the last of their supplies and baggage aboard the ship.

"I've got at least a hundred and fifty years ahead of me," said Nessie, "I'm not the only human/vampire hybrid on my world. There's a few others, one of which is really nice. His name is Nahual, and we're sort of semi-cousins. His mother was human and he was born over 150 years ago. He hasn't aged since he turned seven or so and has looked 17 ever since, so the same thing is going to happen to me in a few years."

"So you got the best of both worlds," said Will.

"Immortality and human strengths all in one package," said Kirjava.

"Exactly," said Nessie, "but I can't hold my breath indefinitely like vampires can. Vampires don't need oxygen, but they rely on their sense of smell to hunt and coordinate themselves. For a vampire, holding your breath or breathing through your mouth is like going numb all over for a human; you can survive but it's really uncomfortable.

"For me, I can hold my breath for several hours, but I do need to breathe eventually. Also, like vampires, I can hold perfectly still for long periods of time. Humans unconsciously move all the time, like when they breathe, blink, fidgeot or scratch an itch. With vampires, we have to make small movements like those consciously in order not to stand out.

"But even though we can stay still without feeling uncomfortable or tired, we still do move about. I know two really, really old vampires who had so much power among other vampires, and humans even, that they saw themselves as gods. They had their every needs taken care of them by others, so they were perfectly fine with stilling still for hundreds of years at a time. Doing that permanently turns vampire skin stone-gray, which makes a vampire stand out even more among humans."

"Nice world you come from," said Pence.

"It has it's ups and downs," said Nessie, "but it's home."

"We'll get you home somehow," said Hayner.

"I know," said Nessie, "but I can't, not until I find Jacob first."

"We'll find Jacob," said Olette, "we just have to go looking for him."

"We can start looking as soon as we get into orbit," said Hayner as they finished loading everything aboard. They then went onto the bridge, where Vivi was already at the pilot's seat.

"Pence and Olette already said that I could be captain," said Hayner to Will and Nessie, "unless you two want the job."

"I'm not that eager to lead," said Will.

"Me neither," said Nessie.

"Don't look at me," said Kirjava.

"Okay then," said Hayner as he sat in the captain's seat, "Pence is going to be our engenier, while Olette's going to be the science officer, analyzing the sensor data."

"No problem," said Olette as she and Pence sat at their stations.

"What do you want me to do?" Will asked, "I guess I can be the medical officer, I am learning to be a doctor back home."

"He's already been accepted into college," said Kirjava.

"So you are a genius!" said Nessie, "I figured you were smarter than you looked."

"I am really smart," said Will.

"Great," said Olette, "you can be medical officer and science officer."

"But that's your job," said Pence.

"I can handle both," said Will.

"I call navigation," said Nessie as she jumped into the station next to Vivi.

"You don't know the layout of the worlds," said Olette, "our computer has a map, but we've had time to memorize it, as well as some facts about each world."

"Olette can handle navigation," said Hayner, "Nessie, you can be our tactical officer, responsible for all the ships weapons."

Nessie sat at the tactical station and read from the computer screen a list of the ship's weapons, "lasers cannons...torpedoes…missiles…I think I can handle this."

"Cool," said Hayner, "okay, is everyone ready?"

"We're as ready as we can be," said Olette, "we've got clearance from the port authorities and can leave at any time."

"Then let's get this show on the road," said Hayner, "Vivi, take us up."

"Powering up engines," said Vivi as he pressed the desired buttons.

Just then a sensor light blinked, "there's someone outside," said Will as he read the computer screen.

The forward view screen showed Seifer, Rai and Fuu outside, with Seifer banging against the closed hatch.

"Those jerks again!" said an irate Pence, "what do they want now?"

"If it's trouble," said Nessie as she cracked her knuckles, "they're going to get it!"

"We'd better get it over with," said Hayner as he stood up, "the ship has safety protocols built in. If there's someone standing too near the ship when the engines are powering up, they won't activate so the person doesn't get burned alive."

"Now that would be a shame," Will said.

They went to the hatch and it opened, revealing the three bullies standing there.

"What do you want, Seifer?" Hayner asked angrily, "my friends and I have business elsewhere, so make it quick."

"Haven't you idiots have had your rear ends kicked enough?" Will asked.

"If you want another Struggle rematch," said Nessie, "you're going to have to settle for an old-fashioned beat down."

"We're not here to cause trouble, ya'know?" Rai said.

"Peace," said Fuu.

"You didn't think you losers could just skip town without saying goodbye," said Seifer.

"That's it?" Hayner asked, "after all the crap you've put my friends and I through, you want to simply say goodbye?"

"That's it," said Seifer, while Rai and Fuu nodded in agreement.

"Oh," said Hayner in a deflated tone, "well…"

"You're going out there to do stuff I don't eve want to know about," said Seifer, "but you've got your reasons."

"But you guys might not come back, ya'know?" said Rai.

"Dangerous," said Fuu.

"Oh it's dangerous alright," said Pence, "but it's got to be done."

"There's friends out there that we need to help," said Olette

"And there's so much at stake," said Nessie, "more than you pathetic minds can imagine."

"And if we don't do something about it," said Will, "well, someone else will, but we'r ein the best position to do the job."

"We get that, ya'know?" said Rai.

"Responsibility," said Fuu.

"But you losers are going to come back someday," said Seifer as he took out something from beind his back, something that turned out to be an ornately crafted gold trophy that had four curved arms that each ended in a different colored crystal sphere, one red, one yellow, one blue and one green.

"The Four Crystal Trophy," said Hayner.

"Didn't you give that to Sora when he was last here?" Olette asked.

"The idiot forgot it," said Seifer, "so you freaks have to give it to him when you find him, and I know you are going to find him."

"Why do we have do your dirty work?" Pence asked.

"Because like you said," said Seifer, "someone has to do it."

"And we're the ones going out into space," said Will.

"Okay," said Nessie as she took the trophy from Seifer, "we'll give it to Sora when we find him. Is that all? Or do you have other business to take care of?"

"We do," said Seifer, "without you oddballs of course!"

"See ya, ya'know!" said Rai.

"Later!" said Fuu. With that the three of them left the area.

"They're not so bad," said Olette, "for bullies that is."

"They'll be alright," said Pence, "but will we be okay?"

"We won't know unless we try," said Hayner.

"Darn right," said Kirjava, while Will and Nessie nodded in agreement. They got back aboard the ship and powered up the engines again. Within minutes, Vivi piloted the ship into orbit.

"Wow," said an impressed Olette as she and everyone admired their world from space.

"On my world," said Will, "astronauts say that seeing Earth from space is the most beautiful sight ever."

"Same with my world," said Nessie.

"It is cool," said Pence.

"We're going to see cooler worlds," said Hayner. The computer then displayed a holographic map of the realms, "so, where to first?"

Olettte looked at the worlds and pointed to one that seemed to have a pirate motif, "that one, Port Royal."

"Why that one?" Will asked.

"I've got a feeling that we're going to find something important there," said Olette, "Sora may be there," she looked at Nessie, "and maybe Jacob as well."

"I hope so," said Nessie in a worried tone, "he must be crawling up the walls by now."

"He's that devoted to you?" Pence asked.

"Wolves mate for life," said Nessie, "and Jacob can turn into a wolf whenever he wants, so we're pretty much stuck with each other. So if that's where we're going to start looking for Jacob," she pointed to the image of Port Royal, "then let's go."

"Setting course for Port Royal," said Vivi, "hyper drive engines activating. Oh, you guys should brace yourself. Going through hyperspace for the first time is unpleasantly like being drunk?"

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" Pence asked.

"Ask a glass of water," said Vivi as the ship jumped into hyperspace. Three seconds later found nearly everyone except Vivi and Kirjava looking very green in the face.

"I've never been drunk before," said Nessie as she struggled not to throw up, "and after this, I never want to."

"It'll get better with later jumps," said Vivi.

"How do you know all of this?" Pence asked, "about space flight and hyperspace travel?"

"I have my sources," said Vivi, but everyone sensed that Vivi was definitely more than he seemed to be.

But their thoughts were suddenly muddled as the ship jumped into hyperspace. Everyone except Vivi all felt extremely miserable for a few seconds before they regain control of their equilibrium and stomachs.

"I've never been drunk before," said Olette, "and I never want to be for real."

"Same with me," said Pence, while Hayner, Will and Nessie nodded in agreement.

"You'll get used to hyperspace travel soon," said Vivi, "and in case you're wondering, we'll be at Port Royal in about nine hours."

"What do you want to do until then?" Hayner asked.

"Don't we have a recreation room?" Pence asked, "Halo, of course."

"You're so dead!" said Hayner as he and Pence raced their way to the game room.

"I'm the one who's doing the killing!" said Will as he ran after them.

"What is it about boys and videogames?" Nessie asked, "I mean, I like videogames sometimes, especially DDR and Guitar Hero, but I just don't see the attraction of games that involve lots of guns and blood, I get enough real blood as it is."

"If I knew the answer to that," said Olette, "I'd be a millionaire."

* * *

><p>…New Hollow Bastion…<p>

"Forgive my being the one to deliver bad news, oh great and terrible Maleficent," said The Negotiator as he knelt on front of the dark throne, "but we've lost contact with the forces sent to Radiant Garden and Twilight Town. It is assumed that the attack forces were all destroyed."

"Impossible!" said Maleficent, "how could both attacks failed? I expected moderet losses on the old Hollow Bastion, but at least the returning forces would have brought with them the prizes they sought; Kairi and Aiden."

"Unfortunately, great one," said The Negotiator, "all Heartless, Nobodies and demons sent to capture the two Keyblade Wielders were indeed destroyed by the Keyblade Wielders, all of them."

"They shouldn't have been able to counter all the groups sent to that world!" spat Maleficent, "what of the search for The Talisman?"

"Again," said The Negotiator, "that search bore no fruit. Also, there's the matter of…"

"What of Twilight Town?" Maleficent asked, "was there any headway in the search for the Talisman there?"

"As I said before," said The Negotiator, "all communications with our forces on that world was lost as well, oh great and terrible one. It is believed that that attack was destroyed as well."

"Two attack forces annihilated at nearly the same time!" shouted Maleficent, "inconceivable! I assume that there was no sign of The Talisman on that world either?"

"So such luck," said The Negotiator, "there's also the matter of…"

"What of the rest of the worlds!" Maleficent asked, "has any other world repulsed its invasion?"

"There is good news in that, great one," said The Negotiator, "the other attack groups have met little resistance on their target worlds and have commenced searching for the Talisman. So far there has been no word of success, nor word of failure either."

"There is still the possibility that the Talisman may be on either the old Hollow Bastion or Twilight Town," said Maleficent, "prepare a second wave for both worlds."

"Not advisable at this time, great one," said The Negotiator, "the devices that negated the Keyholes needs time to recharge. And of course, sending so many Heartless and Nobodies across the realms has depleted our available resources and will take time to gather more Heartless and Nobodies. It will be several days before another assault on both worlds can be attempted."

"Why must I be constantly surrounded by imbeciles!" exclaimed Maleficent as she got up from her throne and began angrily pacing across the room, "first it was those pathetic minions of mine, then that fur ball of a toady, Pete. Then there were the incompetent Hakonians."

Maleficent glared at The Negotiator, "if your demons prove to be equally incompitent, then I will be forced to reevaluate this partnership with your master."

"Mr. Gideon has nothing but the best interests of both parties in mind when he sought out this joint venture," said The Negotiator, "yet one must remember that even the best plans have faults, such as Pete."

"Of course," said Maleficent as she sighed, "he was responsible for capturing the two brats. I should have known that any assignment given to him would end in tears," she sat back on her throne again, "tell me, exactly how has he failed this time? I wish to inform his eventual replacement of what to avoid in the future."

"I believe that Pete was taken prisoner by the enemy," said The Negotiator, "he would up being chased after by a shape shifter and was taken to Sora and his companions for questioning. If the dimwit hasn't told everything he knows by now, then he soon will."

"I should have never rescued that idiot from limbo all those years ago," said Maleficent, "I was in need of assistance in my work, and at the time I wasn't too picky when choosing minions."

She stood up from her throne again, "that moron has failed me for the last time! Prepare and dispatch an assassination team. I never want to see or hear from that buffoon ever again!"

"It would be my pleasure to choose the proper assassin," said The Negotiator, "but is the matter of Pete's wife and children. I understand that they have been living in the castle with him since you took over. What is to become of them?"

"They were to be my insurance policy in the event that the idiot ever tried to defect to the realms of light," said Maleficent, "however unlikely that would be. Yet I choose to take the precaution of holding them here. They have their every need attended to, but are forbidden to leave their designated rooms.

"But now that Pete has used up his usefulness, his family is no longer needed. Terminate them, immediately!"

"It shall be done, oh great and terrible Maleficent," said The Negotiator. He stood up, bowed and left to carry out his orders.

Outside the room, he found a demon subordinate, "find the mate and offspring of Pete. I want them eliminated, but quickly and quietly, with as little mess as possible."

"You got it, boss," said the lesser demon. It scampered off to carry out its order.

"Now," said The Negotiator, "I estimate it will be an hour or so before Maleficent wants me for something, which gives me some time to catch up on paperwork." He went to his recently constructed office that used to be an empty room in the castle.

The Negotiator had just sat down to work, when the same lesser demon he spoke to just now cautiously walked in, "uh…boss?"

"What is it?" The Negotiator asked in an irate tone, "I'm working here! You know how much of a bureaucrat Mr. Gideon can be at times. Any delay in the administrative process will be noticed by him, and he has a habit of punishing those who cannot maintain a schedule."

"We've got a problem," said the lesser demon, "ya' know the mortals you wanted me to have killed quick and clean?"

"Yes," said The Negotiator, "what about them? Did you make a mess afterall?"

"They're gone, boss," said the lesser demon, "I went to their rooms to murder them liked you asked, but when I got there, they was gone."

The Negotiator angrily got up and glared at the lesser demon, "What do you mean they are gone!"

"They weren't in their rooms when I got there," said the lesser demon nervously, "the others are looking for them, but it's like they just vanished or something."

"Well find them, you idiot!" raged The Negotiator, "our mission here depends on keeping Maleficent happy with our efforts, and she just ordered that the mate and offspring of Pete are to be destroyed! I am supposed to meet back with her in less than an hour, so what do you expect me to tell her when the mortals she wants dead are still alive at the end of that hour!"

"Uh…I…" said the dumbfounded demon.

"Oh never mind!" snapped The Negotiator, "I don't expect a 'D' class like you would understand. Just find the mortals and kill them! I don't care how it's done or how much of a mess you make, just get it done!"

* * *

><p>"They're enroot to our location as we speak, Falkon," said Tylek, "they should be here in a minute or so, yet I still don't see why we went through with taking them in the first place. You know that Pete cannot be trusted. He'll betray us to Maleficent the second he gets back, if he hasn't done so already."<p>

"If we've been betrayed, we'd be dead," said Falkon, "or worse, suffering Maleficent's wrath. We're still here, alive and unharmed. No, we have not been betrayed by Pete."

Just then two Hakonians walked in, "they're here, but there's complications."

"What sort of complications?" Falkon asked.

"The idiot has betrayed us!" said Tylek.

"My husband is no traitor!" shouted Peg as she, wearing a black single-shoulder dress and black stiletto shoes, stalked in, followed by two flustered Hakoninas. "Pete may have his faults, a lot of faults, but being a traitor isn't one of them.

"And you creeps," she pointed at the Hakonians, "whatever you're planning to have my husband do, kidnapping me and my children won't work! He'll find us and he'll rip through you like wet newspaper!"

"Your husband is helping us save our race from Maleficent, you stupid cow!" spat one of the other Hakonians.

"Don't you call my mom that, you jerks!" snapped PJ as he, wearing the same style of suit that his father wears, ran in, "I may be smaller than my dad, but if you make fun of my mom, I'll tear you a new one!"

"If they don't tear you first," said Pistol as she, wearing a black and red sundress and carrying the family dog, Chainsaw, in her arms, walked in.

"We asked your father to help us," said Falkon to PJ and Piston, "and in return, we got you out of New Hollow Bastion. We'll do our best to get you as far away from Maleficent as we can, but there's no guarentee that our efforts will succeed."

"Right now Maleficent has chosen to ignore us," said Tylek, "but this stunt we just pulled by rescuing you may draw her wrath down on us like a tidal wave, so you ungrateful children should at least show us some respect."

"There's still the problem," said the first other Hakonian, "our listening posts throughout the castle have told us that the mission to Radiant Garden hasn't gone well at all. The entire invasion force was wiped out, with one survivor, who was taken captive."

"Oh no!" gasped Peg.

"What?" PJ asked, "what happened to my dad?"

"I'm afraid your father is a prisoner in the realm of light," said Falkon.

"Why doesn't he just break out?" Pistol asked, "or better, why don't you guys break him out?"

"It's not that simple," said Falkon, "while we have our eyes and ears on this world, our intelligence gathering means have been severely hindered since Maleficent took away our responsibilities and put those demons in charge of operations.

"We'll do all we can to find out where your father is being held, and if we can rescue him, we will."

"He made a promise to find someone for us," said Tylek, "and he will keep that promise, no matter what."

"So, what that means," said Peg, "is that my children and I are your prisoners."

"We don't want to hurt you at all," said Falkon, "things are getting desperate for my people. We need to leave this world and find a proper home, but there's no hope for us unless our rightful leaders aren't found."

"And Pete agreed to find them for us," said Tylek as he looked at Peg, PJ and Pistol, "so now you understand the situation. He's a prisoner of those who dwell in the light, you three are still here in the dark, and our leaders are out in the wind somewhere."

"Then what are you gonna do to us?" PJ asked, while Pistol nervously clung to her mother.

"For now," said Falkon, "nothing, at least, not until we figure out how to make it so your father can keep his promise."

"We've kept ours so far," said Tylek, "we've gotten you away from Maleficent, and as soon as we can we'll move you to a safer location. But after that, well, it all depends on Pete. So, if you know what's good for you, then don't give us any trouble."

"There won't be any trouble from me or my children," said Peg, "but you should know that if you hurt any of us, my husband will make you regret it dearly."

"I'm sure he will be very upset if anything happens to his loving family," said Falkon, "so for now let's agree to live and let live. The sooner we recover Pete, the sooner you three will be out of harms way, from Maleficent, the demons, the Keyblade Wielders, from anyone who would wish to hurt you."

"Well…okay then," said PJ, "I'll stay out of trouble."

"I just want to get out of here," said Pistol.

"Same here," said Peg, "but we'll behave if it'll help bring back my husband."

"We'll try to make your stay with us as comfortable as possible," said Falkon, "so make yourself at home. This is the last place Maleficent or the demons would look for you, so there is no need to worry about being found."

But unknown to the Hakonians and Pete's family, they had already been found, but not one they would have expected.

Across the street in the next building, Aqua was watching the discussion between the Hakonians and Pete's wife and children using a device that recorded their every word and action.

Next to the recording device was a white laptop that had a stylized **L** on the screen, "as soon as I have the information on Pete's location," said a digitally altered voice from the computer, "I'd like you to slip it to the Hakonians. I'll leave the rescue plan up to them, but it's imperative that they get Pete back. The sooner he finds Reddik and Ralek, the sooner the Hakonians are out of the equation."

"I still don't see why you want to save them, L," said Aqua, "from what I've seen of them, The Hakonians are rotten through and through. The only thing that makes them better than Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed, is that thye can think."

"They can reason," said L, "and they can make their own choices, Aqua, and I've asked you to call me Ryuzaki, my friends all do."

"Yes, right, Ryuzaki," said Aqua, "but why do you want to save them?"

"Because they're trying to redeem themselves," said L, or rather, Ryuzaki, "despite all the evil they've done throughout the centuries, they still deserve a chance to do better, and they're taking it."

"You're right," said Aqua, "they do deserve a chance to change. I'm sorry, I've been in the realm of darkness for so long, I'm starting to lose hope in everything. Ansem was right, I shouldn't be here. It's time I found my way back to the light."

"I couldn't agree more," said Ryuzaki, "but I have to ask you to be patient just a little longer. It's only a matter of time before Sora and his friends are forced back to the dark realm to confront the evil ones. That's when you need to talk to him face to face."

"I'm sure we've got a lot to talk about," said Aqua, "but how do you know that Sora will come to the realm of darkness so soon?"

"I have my sources," said Ryuzaki, "and I have to keep them secret. I have to have my secrets, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did when I last faced Maleficent, and again when I faced Kira."

"You still haven't told me what happened between you and Maleficent," said Aqua, "and who is this Kira?"

"He was my best friend and worst enemy all in one," said Ryuzaki, "a genius, who was the god of his own little world, and for a while the god of a real world."

"Sounds complicated," said Aqua.

"You have no idea," said Ryuzaki.

The end of chapter 4.

Next chapter finds Sora and his group arriving at Mulan's world and thrown once again into battle with the demons. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. see you next time!


	5. Chapter 5: Attack of the Demons

_Note: I've changed the positions of the worlds in the universe. Their positions changed from game to game, so in this story, they've changed as well to fit the story as it came to me. If you don't like this, its your preoperative. But please remember, **THIS IS FANFICTION!** Thank you and enjoy the story._

Last time found Nessie explaining herself fully to Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava, revealing that she's half vampire. A lot more was said among the friends and they all resolved to travel to the many worlds in order to help Sora and his group. Before they left in their new ship, which they named _The Voyaging Light_, they had one more confrontation with Seifer and his crew, who made amends of sourt with Hayner and the others. With that they blasted off for adventure.

At the same time Sora and his group offically made Jacob, Lyra and Pan part of the crew of _The Intrepid Light_, with Mulan, Mushu, Hercules and Phil as passengers. With everything ready, they all set out for the worlds. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 5: Attack of the Demons**

"We're approaching The Land of Dragons," said Sidney. But Sora, Riku, Jacob and Roxas were too engrossed in playing Halo to hear her.

"Hello!" shouted Sidney, "we're almost there!"

But the boys were still playing.

"For the love of the digital world," muttered Sidney. She then took control of the big screen TV that Sora and the others were playing and turned it off.

"Hey!" shouted Sora, "we were playing that!"

"Well excuse me if my programming prompts me to inform you when we're approaching our destination," said an annoyed Sidney.

"Oh," said Sora in a deflated tone, "right, sorry Sidney."

"We kinda got lost in the game," said Riku.

"That happens sometimes," said Jacob, while Roxas nodded in agreement

"I forgive you boys," said Sidney, "this time. Now, as I was saying, we're almost at The Land of Dragons."

"Well why didn't you say so?" Jacob asked.

"I did say so," said an annoyed Sidney.

"He didn't mean anything bad," said Sora.

"Jacob's new," said Riku, "don't take it personal."

At that Sidney smiled, "I'm an Artificial Intelligence program, I have no feelings." At that she laughed, and soon Sora and the others, except Jacob, laughed at the joke.

"What?" Jacob asked.

"It's a personal joke," said Sora.

They made their way to the bridge, where Kairi stood up from the captain's chair, "everything's been quiet so far, Sora."

"Believe me," said Sora, "things are going to get more loud soon enough."

"Aiden's still passed out," said Tess as she walked onto the bridge, "and I'm still kinda tired from using that armor Tron made."

"I'm also tired," said Riku.

"No problem," said Sora. "Kairi and I'll go with Mulan. What about Hercules and Phil?"

"They've been in the training room," said Tess, "that goat guy has been pushing the big guy to the limit. Those machines in there can take a lot of punishment."

"Just how much weight one of the machines can produce?" Riku asked, "I can barely stand the medium settings."

"The limit is ten tones on all of the machines," said Sidney, "with the safety protocols activated. But then again, I do believe that Phil had me disable the safety protocols, thereby making the weight limit nearly limitless."

"Only Hercules," said Sora.

"So it'll be just us," said Mulan as she and Mushu walked onto the bridge.

"Right," said Sora, "Everyone who's going, let's go."

"I want to come as well," said Lyra, "I've been trying to work around the interference that's been affecting the Alethiometer, so we can find Renesmee. But all I've been able to understand is that we need to go down to that world, that we would find something important."

"Nessie?" Jacob asked.

"She said 'something,'" said Tess, "not someone."

"The Alethiometer wouldn't have given an answer if it wasn't important," said Pan.

"In that case come on," said Sora. He Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra, Pan, Mulan and Mushu made their way to the transporter room.

"I've set the beam-down coordinates for the Emperor's Throne Room," said Sidney, "my sensors say that the palace is free of Heartless, but the rest of the world is crawling with them."

"Then we've got our work ahead of us," said Mulan in a grave tone, "I hope Shang's okay."

"He's alright," said Mushu, "he can take care of himself. All we got to do is fight our way through a bunch of baddies and get to him."

"When you're ready to come back up," said Sidney, "just give me a call." a small Handy Helper emerged from the wall and handed a blue cell phone to Sora.

"Then there's not a moment to waist," said Kairi, while Sora pocketed the cell phone, "let's go."

"Beam us down, Sidney," said Sora.

"Energizing," said Sidney. The next thing Sora and the others knew, they were in the Throne Room of the Emperor, who was meeting with several officials. The Emperor then saw our heroes.

**…The Land of Dragons…**

"Ah," said The Emperor as he walked over, "Fa Mulan, you've returned from your travels."

"My lord Emperor," said Mulan as she knelt, "I came back as soon as I heard that The Heartless have attacked our world."

"My sources inform me that more than Heartless have invaded this land," said The Emperor, "Nobodies, and demons."

"We'll stop them!" said Sora, "my friends and I have destroyed all kinds of monsters and baddies since we were last here."

"And the young Keyblade Wielder," said The Emperor, "I see that you have found that which is most precious to you."

"Yeah," said Sora. He then introduced Kairi.

But then Jacob abruptly stepped forward, "Pardon me for being abrupt, but I have to ask, has anyone here seen a girl, about fifteen or so with long, curly bronze hair and brown eyes? It's very important that I find her."

"There is no such young woman on this world, not to my knowledge," said The Emperor, "then again, the sudden invasion of dark creatures has made information gathering quite the problem. I dispatched Captain Shang to ascertain the situation outside the palace."

"When's he expected back?" Mulan asked.

Jus then the doors to the Throne Room abruptly opened. There at the doorway was Shang, looking like he had just fought the battle of his life, "My Emperor," he gasped, "I…I have failed." he then passed out and fell to the floor.

"Shang!" exclaimed Mulan as she ran to his side. He woke up and saw her.

"You're back," Shang said as he sat up, "I thought you weren't supposed to return for another week."

"Things changed," said Mulan, "I had to come back, if only for you."

"You two have had a rather complicated relationship," said Lyra as she looked up from an Alethiometer reading, "unless I've misinterpreted the symbols," she pointed at Mulan, "you dressed as a boy so you could fight in your father's place," she pointed at Shang, "and you found out and forgave her, eventually."

"Who's this?" Shang asked as Mulan helped him stand up. He then saw Sora, Donald and Goofy, "they're here as well," he saw Kairi, "and who is this?" he then looked at Jacob, "and you are…?"

"Friends," said Kairi, "that's enough for now. What did you mean by you failed?"

"It's terrible," said Shang in a grave tone. He walked over and knelt before The Emperor, "sire, it dishonors me to report that the battalion that went with me to scout out the rest of the world has all but been annihilated. Only a handful have returned with me and most of them are severely wounded."

"What about Yao, Ling and Chien-Po?" Mulan asked.

"They're among the survivors," said Shang, "they fought bravely against the enemy and were essential in allowing the survivors to retreat back to the city."

"That's a relief," said Mulan, "but what happened? Shang, tell us everything."

"We went out to the wilderness at the first sign of trouble up in the mountains," said Shang, "at first there were only a handful of Heartless and Nobodies to contend with. But there were more and more the further we got up the mountain.

"We fought our way up to the summit, where it had seemed that we had faced the worst. I had destroyed what appeared to be the last one. But it was all a ploy to lure us into a trap.

"We soon found ourselves surrounded by Heartless, Nobodies and demons. One of the demons, the leader clearly, said that if we surrendered and swore ourselves to the darkness, my men and I, and the entire world, would be spared. The demon wanted soldiers for Maleficent, and someone called Gideon Graves wanted the resources of our world; its metals and people."

"I figured as much," said Jacob, "from what I heard about Gideon, he's always looking for new ways to make money."

"I basically told the demon to go to hell," said Shang, "even at the cost of my life and the lives of my soldiers, we wouldn't surrender our world. That was when the enemy launched a full attack. We had the defensive advantage, but we were gravely outnumbered and it was only a matter of time before we were overwhelmed."

He then looked at Mulan, "that was when I had the inspiration to take a page out of your book. I had Yao, Ling and Chien-Po use the last of our rockets to cause an avalanche. My men and I stood on our shields and rode the avalanche down the mountain, while many Heartless and Nobodies were buried in the snow. Unfortunately, the demons and their leader survived to summon more of the dark creatures.

"We then had no choice but to retreat back to the city. We had lost nearly half our forces and most of those left were wounded, so we had to retreat or face total destruction."

"You did well considering the circumstances, Captain Shang," said The Emperor.

"Thank you, my emperor," said Shang, "with your permission, I wish to see to my men."

"Granted," said The Emperor.

Shang turned to leave the room, while Mulan walked with him.

"Fa Mulan," said The Emperor, "I have not yet given you permission to leave. I have a mission for you."

Shang and Mulan looked at each other. They gave each other looks that said that they really wanted to be together, but honor and duty was preventing it, and they knew it. They then nodded to each other, silently promising to meet up later. Shang then bowed to the Emperor and left.

"I understand your feelings for him, Fa Mulan," said the Emperor, "but there is a time and a place for everything. The good of the world must come first."

Mulan sighed reluctantly, then stood at attention, "I know. What is it you ask of me, my emperor?"

"This new threat to the safety of our world must be dealt with before it is too late," said The Emperor, "Fa Mulan, I am granting you special military authority in this matter. You have the power to do whatever you deem necessary to save our world from the darkness. Any resource or persons you require will be at your disposal."

At that Mulan was slightly embarrassed, but then she got serious again, "you honor me with this responsibility, my emperor. I thank you but," she looked at Sora and the others, "I have all the resources I need right here."

"We'll help," said Sora, "these demons think they can push everyone around and do whatever they want."

"We'll just have to prove them wrong," said Kairi.

"Darn right!" said Donald, while Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Just show me the demons," said Jacob, "they won't know what hit them." At that Lyra and Pan nodded in agreement.

"You've chosen your friends wisely, Fa Mulan," said the Emperor, "go and protect our world from the darkness."

At that Mulan, Sora and the others bowed and left the room.

"So now what?" Kairi asked as our heroes walked through the Antechamber to the Palace Gate, "if we're going to be fighting an army of Heartless and Nobodies lead by demons, we're going to need a plan."

"I'm sure we'll come up with something," said Mulan, "and if we don't…well…we'll just have to get lucky and win somehow."

"Don't worry about luck," said Mushu, "I've got your back on that. Ain't nobody comes close to giving luck than a Family Guardian spirit."

"You're awfully small for a guardian spirit," said Pan.

"Hey, size doesn't matter when the heat is on," said Mushu.

"You two can argue all you want later," said Mulan, "we've a mission to accomplish."

"She's right," said Kairi, "the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can banter among ourselves."

"You won't get any arguments from me," said Jacob, "but just so we all know, does anyone have a plan?"

"Yeah," said Sora, "find the demons, fight them and beat them. It's worked before."

"But this is different," said Kairi, "we should have a plan."

"I think the first thing we need to do is lean what the demons want with this world," said Lyra as she sat down on the stairs of the Palace Gate and held her Alethiometer in her hands.

"We already know that," said Sora, "they're working with Maleficent to get Kairi and Aiden. And they also want some sort of talisman."

"There's something else involved," said Lyra, "the Alethiometer has been pointing to some symbols, ones that mean alterative, evil motives. There is something else going on." She moved the smaller hands on the Alethiometer to the symbols she wanted and focused.

A few minutes later she came out of her focus trance, "the demons, they want this world for themselves."

"Of course they do," said Sora, "they're out to cover all of existence in darkness."

"It's more than that," said Lyra in a slightly annoyed tone, "they want more than to cover everything in darkness. They want to use this world to make money."

"They want to what?" Mulan asked.

"They want to steal all the riches and resources of this world," said Lyra, "they want to take every ounce of gold and treasure, as well as mine the world for metals and fuels. They'll ravage the world until there's nothing left to take."

"Strip mining," said Jacob irately, "I knew Gideon was out to make money."

"Greedy creeps," said Kairi.

"What about the people?" Mulan asked, "if the demons want to take everything of value in the world, what will they do to the people?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that," said Lyra in a grave tone, "the people are going to be enslaved, those that don't turn into Heartless. They're going to be made to mine their own world until they all exhausted to death."

"Those monsters!" said an outraged Mulan, "how can they do such horrible things?"

"They haven't done it yet," said Sora, "we can still stop them before they wreck the world."

"If they want to strip mine the world and enslave its people," said Kairi, "they're going to have to go through us." At that Goofy and Donald nodded in agreement.

"Not if I rip through them first," said Jacob.

"And I'll help find them," said Lyra, "in fact, I'll find them now," she sat down and went into her trance after asking the Alethiometer where to find the enemy, "they'll coming down the mountain as we speak."

"If we hurry we can head them off at the Checkpoint," said Mulan.

"Anyone who doesn't want to come, too bad," said Jacob as he ran out to the Imperial Square, but then ran back, "which way do I go?"

"It's this way," said Mulan. Sora and the others followed her all the way to the Checkpoint and stood on the edge of the river.

"This is a good place to fight," said Mulan as she looked around, "the enemy, they have to come down the Mountain Trail, then cross the river to get to us. The water will slow them down, while the narrowness of this area will force them to condense their forces. We could hold this position for a long time, long enough for reinforcements to come."

"There's just one problem with that plan," said Jacob, "are reinforcements coming?"

"Wasn't the army just trounced?" Lyra asked, "aren't we the reinforcements?"

"Shang will come," said Mulan, "if anyone can convince The Emperor to send more troops, it's him."

"Well in the meantime," said Kairi, "I'd like to ask our friend some questions." She looked at Lyra, "exactly how does the Alehtiometer work? And what do those symbols mean?"

"I'm glad you asked," said Lyra as she and Kairi sat down together, "Each symbol has many meanings, so many that you need a special book to know them all."

"But you don't need a book, do you," said Kairi.

"I didn't when I first got it," said Lyra, "the meanings of the symbols and how to use the Alethiometer, they just came to me. After I got home from my journey, I relearned from the book, but it wasn't the same, not until things got more natural for me again."

"I'm sure you were very happy to have your knack back," said Kairi, "but what about the symbols themselves?"

"Like I said, each has several meanings," said Lyra. She took out the Alethiometer and pointed to one of the symbols, an anchor, "that can mean hope, but it can also mean being steadfast, or it can mean preventing something."

She pointed to a symbol of Alpha and Omega, "that could mean something's either beginning or coming to an end," she pointed to a loaf of bread, "that's obviously food, but it could also mean selflessness or sacrifice," she pointed to an hourglass, "that's time, but also death or change."

"This is getting complicated," said Kairi, "and you really can ask any question?"

"Most of the time," said Lyra, "but whatever's muddling it is beyond anything I've seen."

"There's an answer to this problem," said Kairi, "we'll find out what's wrong with the Alethiometer."

"Well if we don't," said Lyra, "I…I'm alright without it…I guess."

"Have you forgotten how devastated you were when you lost your knack that first time?" Pan asked.

"I wish I did forget," said Lyra. She looked at Kairi, "but Pan's right. The Alethiometer is as much a part of me as your Keyblade is a part of you. Without it, I'm only half of who I am."

"Then we'll just have to find out what's messing with it," said Kairi.

Just then Jacob snarled in disgust, "they're coming! I can smell them! They're coming!"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, "I don't smell anything."

"That's because the wind died down a bit," said Jacob, "wait for it to pick up again."

Just then the wind, which had been blowing down from the mountain, picked up. Sora and the others did notice a faint, but revolting odor to the wind.

"Like rotten fish guts and an open cesspool," said Lyra, "but you're smelling it from far away."

"Well it's worse for me," said Jacob, "wolf senses, remember? And it's even worse for vampires. That day before Nessie's 5th birthday, we were out hunting and we caught the scent of something really disgusting. We smelled the same scent when the demons attacked a week later. This is what demons smell like."

"I didn't smell anything when we fought the demons in Dream Valley," said Kairi.

"I think it's because we fought them only one or two at time back then," said Sora, "but if we can smell them now, then…"

"Then there's a lot of them," said Mulan as she unsheathed her sword, while Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades, Donald and Goofy got out their weapons, Jacob grabbed his staff and Lyra unsheathed her sword.

A minute later about a dozen creatures walked down the Mountain Trail, entered the area and stopped on the other side of the river, looking at our heroes.

The creatures were all humanoid with animalistic features. Some looked like feline predators; lions, tigers and such. Others had the heads and claws of raptor birds, falcons and hawks, while a few had the heads and tusks of razorback boars. They all wore black armor that was inscribed with demonic script and were all armed with spears and other pole arms.

One demon stepped forward. It was obviously the leader, and except for the reptilian-like head, it was the most human. It stood at least seven feet tall and carried a halberd, a spear that was also a pick and an axe.

"Another group of wannabe heroes," said the reptilian demon. It spat into the river, "pathetic."

"Hey! We're real heroes!" shouted Donald. He then glared at Goofy, "don't you even start."

"I wasn't gonna say nuthin'," said Goofy.

"You're working for Gideon, aren't you!" Jacob shouted to the demons in an accusing manner.

"How do you know about Mr. Graves?" the reptilian demon asked, "wait, you're that shape shifter that tried to protect the reject."

"Don't you talk abut Nessie like that!" exclaimed Jacob as he pointed his staff at the demon, "I'll beat you to a pulp!"

"Well, the little dog has a bite to him," said one of the boar-like demons, "looks like we're gonna have to muzzle it."

"Over my dead body!" snapped Kairi.

"It's her!" shouted of the hawk demons, "the girl Mr. Graves wants!"

"Where's the other Keyblade brat?" one of the tiger demons asked.

"Aren't there supposed to be more of them?" another of the falcon demons asked.

"Never mind that," said the reptilian demon, "Maleficent can have her Alchemist prize later. Mr. Graves wants his prize, and Mr. Graves always gets what he wants."

"Well he's just going to have to be disappointed," said Kairi, "I'm not going with you demons."

"And I'll stop you creeps from taking Kairi!" said Sora.

"And we'll help!" shouted Donald and Goofy.

"Wait," said Lyra as she walked up to the edge of the river and looked at the reptilian demon square in the eye, "before we try to destroy each other, I have to ask; are you…creatures…responsible for interfering with The Alethiometer?"

"With the what now?" one of the boar demons asked..

"What's an Aletemator?" one of the hawk demons asked.

"How should I know?" one of the lion demons asked.

"They're not the smartest of demons," said Pan.

"Is it that obvious?" Jake asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, little human," said the reptilian demon, "But it doesn't matter. You're still going to die."

"Boss," said one of the falcon demons, "we should use those special Heartless that Maleficent said we could use if we wanted."

"Oh, yeah," said the reptilian demon, "_those _Heartless." it then raised its spear.

About a dozen Heartless of a type Sora and the others hadn't seen before appeared. They looked like heavily muscled Neo Shadows wearing black karate gi's.

"These guys are new," said Sora, "where did Maleficent find them?"

"From what I heard," said the reptilian demon as it and the other demons smiled wickedly, "they came from your Earth."

"What?" Sora and Kairi both asked.

"Oh yeah," said the reptilian demon, "they used to be human martial artists who flunked out of that tournament they had a while back. A whole lot of humans, who weren't really martial artists, just bullies and thugs, they were offered a deal for more power than they could ever dream of. All they had to do was give up their hearts and they would get exactly what they wanted."

"Wait," said Kairi, "they said that thousands of people who were in the tournament but were eliminated, they vanished without a trace. They were all of the kind that were just bullies and thugs."

"Hades and Ursula were there," said Sora, "they must have turned them all to the darkness."

"That's right, boy!" shouted the reptilian demon, "you're going to be fighting your own people now! Can you do it? Can you destroy a Heartless that used to be someone you know?"

"Of course," said Sora, "just because they were from my world, doesn't mean I can just let them destroy me."

"They weren't that nice to begin with," said Kairi, "call me cruel and mean if you want to, but all those bullies and thugs, if they were so into the darkness already that they just gave away their humanity, just to be stronger, then they deserve to be destroyed."

"I have no problem fighting these things at all," said Jacob.

"Same with me," said Mulan as she took up a fighting stance with her sword held up, "you monsters invaded my world. You seek to despoil its resources and treasures and to enslave its people! This is completely unforgivable!"

"Forgiveness is for the weak!" snapped one of the boar demons, "and so are you guys!"

"Takes one to know one!" shouted Mushu, "my girl Mulan's gonna slice you up real nice."

"That remains to be seen," said the reptilian demon. It then pointed at our heroes with its spear as it spoke to the martial artist Heartless, Blackbelts, "kill!"

The Blackbelts rushed at our heroes, running atop the surface of the river as if it were a solid road.

Sora and Donald tried to blast two of the Blackbelts with Thunder spells, but the gi-wearing Heartless dodged the bolts of lightning as if they were nothing.

Before Sora and the others knew it, they were fighting the Blackbelts. The martial artist Heartless fought with a level of skill that vastly surpassed the abilities of the human bullies and thugs that they used to be.

"I miss the preliminary rounds of the tournament!" said Sora as he barely dodged a punch to his head, then jumped away from being kicked in the torso.

"I'd give my right eye for Adam and the others to show up right about now," said Kairi as she barely blocked a kick to her head.

"I wouldn't pay anything," said Jake as he bashed one Blackbelt in the head with his staff, destroying it, then smashed another to the ground, destroying it

"I just want this to be over," said Mulan as she stabbed one Blackbelt, destroying it, then decapitated another.

"Those two seem to have things more easier than the others," said one of the falcon demons as it pointed at Mulan and Jacob.

"She ain't," said one of the boar demons as it pointed at Lyra, who was barely holding her own against two Blackbelts.

"She's the weakest of them," said the reptilian demon, "take her out first!"

"I don't think so!" shouted Roxas as he sliced two Blackbelts in half, then destroyed two more.

"Lyra's in trouble!" shouted Sora as he and Kairi finished off the Blackbelts they were fighting.

"I got it!" shouted Mulan as she attacked on of the Blackbelts that Lyra was fighting, while Jake fought the other. Within seconds all of the martial artist Heartless were destroyed.

"Is that all you creeps got?" Sora asked.

"That was just our Heartless," said the reptilian demon, "meet our Nobodies!"

"Uh, boss," said one of the tiger demons, "we only have the one big one left. The others Maleficent said we could have, they were all destroyed by that avalanche."

"Oh," said the reptilian demon, "well, then unleash the big Nobody!"

Behind the demons a giant Nobody appeared, one that looked to be an all white chimera. It had the twisted heads of a leopard and a jackal, the body and forelegs of a crocodile, the rear legs and wings of a vulture and a snake-like tail that ended in an anaconda head.

"That's one big monster," said a nervous Mushu.

"I think I know this thing," said Roxas, "one of The Organization was working on a new type of Nobody, I think it was Siax, but he changed his mind about the project about halfway through."

"Mr. Gideon finished it," said the reptilian demon, "it's simply called Chimera."

"That's what Siax was going to call it!" said Roxas, "Your boss is nothing more than a thief!"

"And now we have to fight the thing," said Sora, "no problem."

"Not just it, stupid humans," said the reptilian demon, "you'll have to fight me and my boys as well."

"Great," said Kairi sarcastically, "more fun."

"You guys focus on the bigger problem," said Jacob as he took off his clothes, "I'll handle the rest."

"What's that human doing?" one of the eagle demons asked.

"I think he's lost it!" laughed one of the boar demons.

"You're the ones who are about to lose it!" shouted Jacob. He then phased into his wolf form and before the demons could react, he leapt onto one of the tiger demons and ripped it apart. Jacob then attacked and killed one of the falcon demons before the rest could recover from his sudden strike.

"Save some for us!" shouted Mulan as she attacked and fought one of the boar demons.

"We need to help them!" said Kairi, "demons will come back if they're not vanquished properly."

"I think we've got bigger problems!" shouted Roxas as he dodged to the side to avoid a slashing claw from the Chimera. The giant Nobody then tried to bite him with its leopard head, then with its jackal head.

"Eat this!" shouted Roxas as he struck back with his Keyblades, but his attacks only grazed the giant Nobody.

Sora and Kairi tried a combination attack, but the creature took flight and attacked them from above. They barely dodged its slashing claws and gnashing teeth.

"Doesn't this thing have a weakness?" Roxas asked, "wait, it does have a weakness, that's why Siax abandoned the project. But I can't remember what it was!"

"Wait," said Kairi as she dodged another claw slash, then jumped out of the way of the anaconda head, "where's Naminé!"

"I've been in the back all along!" shouted Naminé as she tried to draw the giant Nobody, "I'm trying to make it forget why it's here, but my powers aren't working on it!"

"It had its memory taken from it when it was formed," said Lyra as she hastily read her Alethiometer, then dodged a claw slash.

"That would explain a lot," said Naminé as she dodged a claw slash.

"But there is a way to destroy it!" said Lyra, "you need to cut the heads off at the same time!"

"Easier said than done!" said Roxas as he dodged the anaconda tail.

"I think this is a good time to use some Pixy Dust!" said Sora as he pulled out the pouch of said dust that Tinker Bell gave our heroes while they were on Metamore. He sprinkled some on his head, then tossed the pouch to Kairi, who sprinkled some on her head.

Both of them concentrating on their first kiss, Sora and Kairi took flight and struck back at the Chimera. The creature was outraged that two of its enemies invaded its airborne realm. It rushed at them and tried to swallow them both, but Sora and Kairi flew out of the way, he going left and she going right.

This was what the creature wanted, the two of them splitting up. It went after Kairi and faked a claw slash at her, forcing her to fly downward. It then ensnared her with its anaconda tail and started to crush her.

"No!" shouted Sora as he hacked and slashed at the snake-like tail, but it wouldn't let go of Kairi. She was second away from being squeezed into a pulp.

But then Shang rode into the area on his horse with a bow and arrow in his hands. He aimed at the head of the anaconda tail and fired, the arrow flying true as it hit one of the snakes' eyes. All three heads of the creature roared in pain and the snake-tail released Kairi. She fell to the ground but Sora caught her.

"You alright?" He asked frantically.

"Other than the fact that I feel like I've been wrung out to dry," said Kairi, "I'm perfectly fine."

"Oh yeah, now I remember," said Roxas, "the monster's weakness; it's eyes. Siax made everything else about it all but indestructible, but for some reason he couldn't get the eyes right."

"Right," said Sora, "go for the eyes!"

"Right!" said Kairi. They then flew around the creature, now enraged at having lost one sixth of its sight. It slashed, bit and lunged at Sora and Kairi, but they flew too fast for it.

Sora then shot a Fireball at one of the leopard eyes, then Kairi took out one of the jackal eyes. They then alternated, with Sora taking out the other leopard eye and Kairi finishing the other jackal eye. Sora then flew behind the giant Nobody and destroyed the other anaconda eye.

The creature was now completely blind. It fell to the ground in its blind rage and thrashed about, trying to destroy the ones who crippled it.

Sora and Kairi then hovered behind the two forward heads of the creature. "Ready?" Sora asked.

"I was born ready!" said Kairi. Together they struck at the monster, cutting off the leopard and jackal heads at the same time. The heads flew off and vanished into gray smoke. The giant Nobody collapsed and lay still.

"And that's that," said Sora as he and Kairi landed.

"Wait! It's not over!" said Roxas, "it's not disappearing like all our enemies do when they're destroyed!"

"What?" exclaimed Kairi. She and Sora turned around to see that not only was the beheaded Chimera still there, it was starting to get back up, while gray smoke curled around the severed necks of the monster, condensing into solid matter that was slowly but surely becoming new heads for the giant Nobody.

"I thought you said that we had to cut the heads off!" Sora shouted at Lyra, "that's what your truth thing said!"

"The Alethiometer said what it said!" shouted Lyra, "I didn't read it wrong. It said to cut the heads off at the same time!"

"We did that and it didn't work," said Kairi as the new heads of the giant Nobody began to take shape.

"No, it was right," said Roxas, "it said to cut the heads off, all of the heads. That thing has three heads!"

Sora and Kairi looked at the creature and realized that they had forgotten to cut off the anaconda head at the tail. "Well, I feel really dumb right now!"

"Feel bad about yourself later!" said Naminé, "someone needs to take out that last head before the others reform."

"It won't work that way," said Lyra, "all three heads need to be cut off at the same time. You need to wait for the other two to return before you strike!"

"I'll take the third head!" said Roxas, "Sora, I need a hit of Pixy Dust!"

"Coming right up!" said Sora as he tossed the pouch to Roxas, who took some and sprinkled it on his head. Thinking about the time after he won the 4 Crystal Trophy during the Struggle Tournament in the digital Twilight Town, when he split the four crystals among the digital versions of Hayner, Pence and Olette, Roxas shot into the air and hovered behind the still blind anaconda head.

Sora and Kairi flew up and got behind the still forming jackal and leopard heads. "Wait until the new heads form!" shouted Roxas.

"Right!" shouted both Sora and Kairi. It was a tense few seconds as they waited for the new heads to solidify. But then the new heads roared in anger as they finished forming.

"Now!" shouted Sora, Kairi and Roxas as they all struck at the three heads at the same time. Fully decapitated, all of the Chimera, body and severed heads, dissolved into smoke and vanished completely.

"And that's that, finally," said Sora as he, Kairi and Roxas landed on the ground.

"Is it over?" Pan asked.

"Almost," said Naminé. She pointed to the other side of the river where Mulan and Jacob, still in wolf form, had nearly destroyed all of the demons. Only the reptilian demon, as well as one falcon and one tiger, were still alive.

"I think we're in trouble, boss," said the falcon demon.

"Oh you're in more than trouble," said an irate Mulan, while Jacob growled menacingly, "you're in deep, deep trouble!"

"I think we should run, boss," said the tiger demon.

"That's the smartest thing I've heard all day!" said the reptilian demon, "run, boys! Run!" The three demons then ran for the Mountain Trail.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Mulan as she and Jacob ran after them.

"Mulan! Wait!" shouted Shang.

"I don't think she can hear you," said Sora.

"They're running into a trap!" said Lyra as she read the Alethiometer, "the demons have more Heartless waiting at the top of the mountain!"

"Then we'd better catch them before it's too late!" shouted Kairi. With that they all ran to the next area. They soon caught up with Mulan halfway up the Mountain Trail.

"It's a trap, Mulan!" shouted Sora, "the demons are setting you and Jacob up!"

"They're what?" Mulan asked as she abruptly stopped.

"The Alethiometer never lies," said Lyra.

"Oh," said Mulan, "I…I should have thought better. I was so upset over what the demons did to the world and what they planned to do, I…I wasn't thinking right."

"Anyone would have acted as you did, considering the circumstances," said Shang, "even the best disciplined of soldiers would give into anger when stressed too far."

"Even you?" Mulan asked as she smiled.

"Even me," said Shang, "when that which is most precious to me is threatened."

"Wait, where's Jacob?" Sora asked.

"He ran ahead," said Mulan, "I just couldn't keep up!"

"Oh no!" exclaimed Lyra as she read the Alethiometer, "he's been captured!"

Everyone started running up the trail as fast as they could. They reached the Village, which apparently had been rebuilt since the last time Sora had been there, but had recently been wrecked again, this time by the demons.

The whole area was crawling with Heartless, while the three demons had Jacob tied up and muzzled in the middle of the wrecked village.

"Alright, human fools!" shouted the reptilian demon, "here's how things are gonna be! Give me the girl, and I'll let your dog go!"

At that Jacob growled through his muzzle.

"He said don't do it!" said Pan, "that he's not worth sacrificing Kairi."

"You can understand him?" a surprised Lyra asked.

"It's an animal thing," said Pan.

"But you're not an animal," said Sora.

"I know," said Pan, "it's much more complicated."

"Excuse me!" said the reptilian demon, "but are we gonna do business or not?"

"No," said Kairi as she stepped forward defiantly, "we're not going to do business."

"Then your dog is going to die," said the reptilian demon, while the tiger demon raised its spear to stab Jacob.

"He's a wolf, you dummy!" shouted Kairi, "and he's not going to die, and I'm not going with you either."

"Who's the dummy now!" shouted the reptilian demon, "it's either the one or the other. You're coming with us, or the dog buys the dust!"

"And I said no!" said Kairi as she took out the blue watch that Tron made for her and she put it on her right wrist.

"Be careful with that," said Sora as he took out the red watch that Tron made for him, "Riku and Tess were exhausted when they used their armor."

"I'll be extra careful with mine," said Kairi. She pressed the middle button on the watch and in a flash of blue light she was wearing blue and white armor that had short ear extensions on the helmet.

"You're going down, creeps!" shouted Kairi as she summoned her Keyblade.

"You're the one who's going down, little girl!" said the reptilian demon. It then shouted to all the Heartless in the area, "get her!"

The Heartless converged on Kairi, but she struck at them first, moving much faster than normal and attacking with much more power and skill than she did before.

"Awesome!" said Sora as Kairi systematically destroyed every Heartless in the area in less than two minutes.

"Any more ideas you want to try on me?" Kairi asked the demons.

"Yeah, I've got one," said the reptilian demon as it stepped forward, "I'll take you on myself!" It rushed at Kairi with its halberd raised, but she disarmed the demon, literally. With one slash of her Keyblade, Kairi sliced off the left arm of the demon, causing it to drop its halberd.

"Bitch!" spat the demon as it clutched at its severed arm. "I'll kill you for that!"

"I thought you were supposed to capture me alive," teased Kairi.

"You just need to be breathing," said the demon, "Mr. Gideon never said anything about you being unharmed. Well, he did say that you were to be unharmed, but accidents happen!" It then focused its energies on regenerating its lost arm, which grew back in a manner of seconds.

"That's not good," said Sora.

"It gets worse, human!" spat the reptilian as its whole body began to change. Its armor, which turned out to actually be its skin, morphed into a scale-like pattern, while two more arms grew out of its side and a pair of dragon wings shot out of its back. The demon's neck elongated and its mouth grew to encompass more razor-sharp teeth.

"You're in trouble now, little girl," said the demon in a distorted voice. It then rushed at Kairi, moving much faster than before. Kairi barely brought her Keyblade to block its slashing claws.

"I think Kairi's in trouble!" said Sora as the mutated demon forced Kairi onto the defensive.

"So is Jacob," said Naminé, "those other demons look like they want to kill him."

"Why doesn't he just get out of those ropes?" Roxas asked, "they don't look that strong."

"We'll ask him when we save him," said Mulan, "we'll go around and attack from behind."

"No," said Lyra as she read her Alethiometer, "the demons, they're not that smart, but they'll expect us to try something."

"Then we won't try to take them by surprise," said Roxas. He then had an idea, "or maybe we will take them by surprise. Sora, you go help Kairi. Mulan and I will save Jacob."

"I'll help as well," said Lyra as she drew her sword, "but what's your plan?"

"Just wait for Sora to help Kairi," said Roxas, "then follow my lead."

"Right," said Sora. He then put his red watch on his wrist and pressed the red button. In a red flash he was encased in armor that had tall ear extensions on the helmet.

He then rushed at the mutated reptilian demon and attacked, surprising it and forcing it away from Kairi.

"You look good in red," said Kairi as she admired Sora's armor.

"I feel good in red," said Sora. He then admired Kairi's armor, "and you look good in blue."

"I feel good in blue," said Kairi.

"You'll both feel good in death when I'm done with you!" shouted the mutated demon as it attacked both of them. It forced Sora and Kairi on the defensive, but they were able to hold their own against the creature as they purposely gave ground, leading them to one side of the area, giving Roxas and the others a clear shot at Jacob and the other demons.

"Now!" shouted Roxas as he summoned his Keyblades. He then started yelling at the top of his lungs and charged across the wrecked village towards the two demons.

"That's his plan?" an exasperated Lyra asked, "even I wouldn't attack the enemy like that, and I've done some reckless things when I was younger."

"We both had our escapades," said Pan.

"Well this plan seems to be working!" said Mulan. Roxas's reckless headlong rush had startled the two demons, allowing Roxas to get to them and he attacked the tiger demon, forcing it away from Jacob.

"I'll take the other demon!" said Mulan to Lyra as she raised her sword, "you save Jacob!" she then started yelling at the top of her lungs and charged at the falcon demon, who was still startled from Roxas' headlong charge. It was so surprised by Mulan's reckless attack that she forced him away from Jacob as well.

"This could work out after all!" shouted Lyra. She and Pan then yelled at the top of their lungs as they ran toward Jacob. Lyra then cut Jacob free of the ropes. He stood up and shook himself, then growled lowly.

"He says thanks," said Pan, "and that the ropes had some kind of dark power over them, so he couldn't escape. But he's okay now."

"I think he's more than okay," said Lyra as Jacob leapt at the tiger demon and ripped its head off, then ripped off the head of the falcon demon.

"I told you it would work," said Roxas as he put his Keyblades away.

Jacob then morphed back to his human form, "thanks again. I can't believe those things surprised me."

"Everybody has off days," said Roxas.

"You guys aren't even bothered that I don't have any clothes on," said Jacob.

"I'm surprised that you're not bothered," said Lyra as she averted her eyes, "it's so cold here and you're not even shivering."

"Body temperature of 108," said Jacob, "it's a wolf thing."

Just then the mutated reptilian demon delivered one really powerful strike to Kairi, causing her to fall to the ground. Her armor deactivated on impact, "Sora!" she shouted as she tried to reactivate her armor, but her energy was too low.

"Kairi!" shouted Sora. He tried to run to her to help, but the demon hit hum hard enough to deactivate his armor. Sora fell to the ground. He tried to reactivate his armor, but he was too low on energy as well.

"I expected more," said the demon in a contemptuous manner. It then walked over to Kairi, "and now to take care of you. I'm sure that Mr. Graves will punish me for damaging you, but breaking your legs will make the punishment worth it."

"You stay away from her!" shouted Naminé as she, Roxas, Mulan and Lyra ran over. The demon the shot several dark magic spheres at them, forcing them back.

"No more interruptions," said the demon, "the girl is coming with me!"

But then, just when it seemed that all hope to save Kairi was lost, Aiden beamed down from the ship, grinning eagerly as he aimed his Keyblade at the demon, "I finished my nap!"

Aiden then shot a beam of Alchemic energy at the demon, transmuting the air around the demon into a glass cube. The creature found itself trapped. It thrashed about in the cube, slamming its fists and banging its head against the glass walls, but the glass wouldn't even crack.

"That glass has a metal alloy in it," said Aiden as he walked over to help Sora up, while Naminé and Lyra helped Kairi stand up, "He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Glad to see you're back in action," said Sora.

"Glad to be back," said Aiden.

"You pathetic alchemist!" snapped the demon, "you only made my job easier by showing up so I don't have to hunt for you." It charged up a massive dark magic attack.

"I wouldn't do that," said Aiden.

"Oh but I would!" said the demon as it threw the dark magic sphere. The huge mass of dark energy hit the glass cube and detonated on contact. The cube was destroyed, but most of the blast was reflected inside. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, the demon was on the ground, burned halfway to a crisp.

"I guess that settles that problem," said Sora.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted the demon as it stood up, "you think you're safe now, humans? You're wrong!" it then summoned a Dark Corridor, "when Mr. Gideon hears of this, he's gonna kill you all!" it ran into the Dark Corridor and it closed up after it.

"That was weird," said Shang as he walked up to Mulan.

"It can get weirder," said Sora.

"Do you think that thing will come back?" Naminé asked.

"If it does," said Kairi, "we're going to be ready. I think I have an idea on how to make the world safer."

Just then Pan noticed something buried in the wreckage of the village, "what's that?" he asked.

Lyra saw what Pan was looking at; a small spot of gold sticking out from a pile of charred wood. She walked over and pulled out from the wreckage a large gold key.

"Wow," said Lyra as she admired the key. It was over 4 inches long and was in a style that would be found to open the front door of a 19th Century house. Along the length of the key were seven precious stones, each one a color of the rainbow, while the end of the key had a small hole for either a string or a key ring.

"Ruby, amber, topaz, emerald, sapphire, amethysts and topaz," said Mulan as she looked at the gemstones.

"That's some key," said Sora.

"Yeah, but what lock does it go with?" Kairi asked as she held the key, "wait, there's…something…some power in it. It's very faint but it's there."

"There is a faint power in it," said Naminé as she held the key, "but…it feels incomplete, like this key is only part of a greater whole."

"More like it is a key to a greater power," said Aiden as he held the key, "could it be part of this worlds' magic?"

"I don't know," said Shang, "there's no lock in the kingdom that matches that key, not that I know of."

"I think we should ask The Emperor," said Mulan.

* * *

><p>"I must admit," said The Emperor as he examined the gold key, "I have never seen anything like it. It is a beautiful example of craftsmanship; whoever made this key put their heart and soul into its creation."<p>

"We think it's part of some greater whole," said Kairi, "a greater magic."

"I can assure you that there is no magic such as this on this world," said The Emperor.

"Then can we keep it?" Sora asked, "if it didn't come from this world, than maybe we can find out where it came from."

"I've been trying to find that out since we found it," said Lyra as she looked at her Alethiometer, "the same thing's happening again! Some force is interfering with the Alethiometer! It won't tell me anything about the key."

"Then it looks like we're going to have to figure it out the hard way," said Aiden as he transmuted a rock he picked up from The Mountain Trail into a leather string and threaded it through the key loop. He then placed it around his neck.

"Okay then," said Kairi, "I think that, like what Sora did before, we have to reseal the Keyhole of this world, only now I'll infuse the Keyhole with protective magic that'll prevent demons from ever coming back."

"And I'll infuse a new element as well," said Aiden, "an energy barrier that changes so the enemy can't figure out how to break through. Those with goodness in their hearts can come and go at will, but evil will be denied entry."

"That's a good idea," said Sora, "wait, I never sealed the Keyhole of this world. I opened the Gate that was Shan-Yu's sword, but I never saw this worlds' Keyhole."

Just then Sora's Keyblade appeared in his hand, while Kairi's and Aiden's also appeared. They dragged the three of them out to the Imperial Square, where the Keyhole appeared.

"It was right here all along!" said Mulan.

"Well then, let's seal this sucker," said Aiden.

"Ready?" Sora asked Kairi.

"Whenever you are," Kairi said as she smiled at Sora. The two of them and Aiden aimed their Keyblades and shot beams of white magic at the Keyhole. It flashed and vanished with a loud 'Click!'

"And that's that," said Sora as he, Kairi and Aiden vanished their Keyblades, "this world is safe again."

"How can we ever thank you for all that you've done?" Shang asked.

"Just be happy with your lives," said Kairi, "and be true to yourselves, and each other."

"That we can promise," said a smiling Mulan.

"And don't worry about keeping the world safe on the inside," said Mushu, "I've got that covered."

"Sure you do," teased Pan.

"I think we should be leaving now," said Naminé, "before anything else happens."

"That's a good idea," said Sora. Everyone then said their goodbyes to Mulan, Shang and Mushu. Sora then pulled out the blue cell phone and opened it, connecting a direct line up to The Intrepid Heart. "Sidney, beam us up!"

"The welcome mat is out and ready for you," said Sidney. A few seconds later Sora and the others were back aboard _The Intrepid Heart_.

"Wow," said an amazed Lyra, "now that was an adventure."

"You think that was an adventure?" Jacob asked, "try fighting an army of newborn vampires, then later on standing up to another army of vampires."

"Just what kind of world do you come from?" Aiden asked, "vampires and people who turn into wolves, crazy."

"Not as crazy as the rest of the worlds we're going to see," said Sora, "Sidney, how's Riku and Tess doing?"

"We're still tired," said Tess as she and Riku walked into the transporter room.

"But we'll be alright for the next world," said Riku, "so, where are we going next?"

"We dropped off Mulan," said Sora, "so now we're going to drop off Hercules. Let's set sail for Olympus Coliseum!"

"On our way!" said Riku as he and the others hurried to the bridge. A few minutes later the ship had her course set and had jumped into hyperspace.

"We should be there in four hours," said Riku.

"I think we've got time to eat," said Sora, "who's turn is it in the kitchen?"

"I'll do it," said Roxas, "I've been meaning to try out a recipe I learned when I was exploring the worlds for The Organization, and I'd like to try to make Sea Salt Ice Cream."

"I'll help," said Naminé. With that the two of them went to the kitchen.

"I think our stomachs are in for one raw deal," said Tess.

"Give them a chance," said Kairi, "they may just surprise us."

"Well there's one thing I'm certain of," said Jacob as he held up the gold key, "we've got a mystery to solve."

"Gee, is it that obvious?" Tess asked sarcastically.

"Yes, it is that obvious," said Jacob.

* * *

><p><strong>…New Hollow Bastion…<strong>

"Things aren't going as well as we thought they would," said The Negotiator, "not well at all. As of this time there is still no word on the location of The Talisman, or of word that we have either of the brats in custody."

"This is outrageous!" spat Maleficent, "you assured me that your demons would be suitable replacements for the Hakonians!"

"And they will be, oh great and terrible one," said The Negotiator, "give them time and they will be. It's merely a matter of time before The Talisman is found, and the two brats, Kairi and Aiden, are captured."

"For your sake, demon, you had better be sure of this," said Maleficent, "otherwise you will learn firsthand just how unpleasant I can be."

Just then a lesser demon walked in, "boss, I've got bad news."

"More bad news!" shouted The Negotiator, "I just delivered bad news to the mistress of all evil! How much more bad news must she be subjected to today!"

"Just deliver the report," said Maleficent as she sat down on her dark throne, "I already have a headache, so any more bad news won't make much difference in ruining my day."

"Uh, the news is from The Land of Dragons," said the lesser demon in a nervous tone, "we've lost all contact with the assault force."

"I assume the Keyblade Wielders are responsible for this latest travesty?" Maleficent asked, "did the assault force even locate a hint of The Talisman?"

"I think you would understand better if you hear it from the one who delivered the bad news to us first," said the lesser demon. Two more lesser demons dragged in the burned reptilian demon.

"Tell your mistress what you told me!" said the first lesser demon to the burned demon.

"It was the Keyblade brats," said the burned demon, "they've got some sort of armor that makes them stronger."

"Armor?" Maleficent asked in a thoughtful tone. "Yes, in the old days, Keyblade Wielders did wear armor, but only when traveling between worlds. It seems that times have changed indeed."

"We're going to have to reevaluate our strategies," said The Negotiator, "I'll get right on it."

"What about this reject?" the lesser demon asked as it pointed at the burned demon.

"It failed," said Maleficent, "I have no tolerance for failure."

"You heard her!" said The Negotiator, "get rid of this garbage!"

"Wait!" said the burned demon, "I can still fight the brats! Just give me another chance!"

"Sorry," said The Negotiator, "Mr. Graves has no tolerance for failure either!" he then blasted the demon with a vaporizing beam.

"Now," said Maleficent, "is there any other bad news that I have do deal with today?"

The lesser demon was about to say 'no,' but another lesser demon ran into the room.

"Boss!" shouted the other lesser demon, "we've just lost contact with the assault team that invaded Port Royal!"

"Excuse me!" snapped The Negotiator.

"We lost contact with Port Royal," said the lesser demon, "and long range scans reveal that that worlds' Keyhole has been sealed."

"What?" exclaimed Maleficent.

"Oh, yeah," said the first lesser demon, "the Keyhole of The Land of Dragons was also sealed."

"This doesn't make sense," said The Negotiator, "if the Keyblade brats are on The Land of Dragons, how could they have sealed that Keyhole and seal another Keyhole at the same time? Unless…"

"Unless what?" Maleficent asked.

"Unless there is another group of heroes at work," said The Negotiator, "a group that originated from Twilight Town."

"Then those fools who think they are heroes are gravely mistaken," said Maleficent, "find those would be heroes! Find them and destroy them!"

**The end of chapter 5.**

Next chapter we switch over to Hayner, Nessie and their group as they learn just what it means to be a pirate. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	6. Chapter 6: A Pirates' Life

_Before we get started I want everyone to know that I appreciate your suggestions for the new princesses of heart. While they're all good ideas, especially the one with Bloom from Winx Club, I'm sorry to say that I won't be using them. I already have all the princesses chosen. I'll give you a clue; the ones that haven't been revealed yet, they're all from different parallel Earths. Sara, Usagi, Miley, Lyra and Nessie, they were all born on different Earths, and the last two are the same. I can say this as well, one of the last two is from a Disney movie, I won't say which one, and the other is from my very favorite book series, although she is only mentioned at the very end of said series. If you guess who, good for you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fiction._

Last time found Sora and his group arriving in The Land of Dragons where they found that the demons, Heartless and Nobodies had launched a full-scale invasion. After briefly meeting with Shang, Mulan lead our heroes to fight the baddies, resulting in Sora and Kairi donning their new armor for the first time and sealing the Keyhole for the Land of Dragons. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 6: A Pirates' Life**

"So that's Port Royal," said Hayner as he and the others clustered around a holographic display of the world _The Voyaging Light_ was now in orbit over.

"The computer's not picking up any advanced technology from down there," said Pence, "but there's a lot of people, and…a lot of old style sail boats, huge ones…with lots of cannons."

"Gunpowder cannons," said Nessie as she looked at the data, "and lots of flintlock muskets."

"It's like a world trapped in the past," said Kirjava, "the rest of the cosmos has advanced, but this one world is still in the same time period, similar to 18th century Earth."

"I'm sure this is all fascinating," said Olette, "but remember why we're here. We're looking for Sora and the others, and Jacob of course."

"If Jacob's there," said Nessie, "I'll sniff him out," she tapped her nose, "vampire senses, remember?"

"Yeah," said Hayner, "hey, while we're on the subject, anything else you want to tell us about yourself? Any other surprises you've got for us?"

"Well, just one," said Nessie, "I should have told you this when I was telling you everything else, but it really didn't seem important at the time. You see, some vampires have special powers that go with their speed, strengthen and senses. My father can read minds and my mother can shield her mind and other minds from psychic attacks.

"I can do the opposite of both. I can send my thoughts into other people's minds by touching them, and I can break through psychic defenses. Here," she reached out to touch Hayner, "I'll show you," she touched his face and he gasped in shock.

"What is it?" Olette asked frantically, "what's she doing to you?"

"I just showed him my memory of meeting you guys," said Nessie as she stood back.

"I saw you seeing us though your eyes," said an amazed Hayner, "and how you fought off Seifer and his goons."

"Show me something!" said Pence eagerly.

"Gladly," said a smiling Nessie. She touched Pence and showed him her memory of her sharing Sea Salt Ice Cream atop the clock tower with the gang. She then showed Will and Kirjava her meeting them, then with Olette the memory of their agreeing to take this voyage.

"Wow," said Olette, "you've got an incredible power."

"How did you get this power?" Pence asked.

"I was born with it," said Nessie, "and my family, they got their powers when they became Vampires."

"Incredible," said Will, "can you only send memories into other minds? Or can you use thoughts as well."

"Thoughts and memories," said Nessie, "I can do either one, sometimes both if I'm in a hurry."

"Well I can honestly say that you are one of the most extraordinary persons I have ever met," said Kirjava, "I saw what Will saw, and it was incredible."

"Oh, right, they're the same person," said Olette.

"We're all incredible," said Nessie, "everyone's unique."

"True," said Will, "well, let's get to it and see what's down there."

"Vivi," said Hayner, "hold the ship in orbit. We'll call you when we're ready to come up," he held up his cell phone.

"Be careful down there," said Vivi, "if there's a problem, I'll pull you back up in a flash."

"We'll be careful," said Olette.

"Do you really think we'll find Jacob down there?" Pence asked as they headed for the transporter room.

"If we don't," said Nessie, "if I can't sniff him out, we'll look somewhere else. But we won't know if we don't go, so let's go."

"There's a port town we can beam to," said Olette as she read the sensor data on the transporter computer, "it looks like a good place to pick up information."

"Alright then," said Hayner as he, Pence, Nessie, Will and Kirjava got onto the transporter pad, "beam us down." Olette activated the computer, starting a timer. She hurried to the transporter pad and the computer beamed them all down.

The next thing they knew, they were in the middle of the most chaotic scene to ever cross their eyes. All around them were pirates, pirates and more pirates. Some were drinking themselves half blind at taverns. Others were flirting with pretty ladies of the evening. And other pirates were gambling their fortunes away, while others were brawling, some to the point of death.

**…Tortuga, Port Royal…**

"Maybe we shouldn't have left the ship," said an uncomfortable-sounding Olette.

"It's not that bad," said Pence. He then had to duck to avoid a bottle of rum that someone carelessly threw across the area.

"It's like the dark side of Treasure Island," said Nessie as she held her nose, "and it smells worse. Don't they have bath tubs on this world?"

Hayner and the others also found the stench of hundreds of unwashed bodies, spoiled food and mucked streets, rather repellent, "can you even tell Jacob from these…people?" Hayner asked as he also ducked a flying rum bottle.

"Jacob's scent isn't like a human's," said Nessie, "he's more animal than man when it comes to scent. No, if he were here, even among all of this filth, I'd smell him. He's not here, so we're going to have to ask if anyone's seen him."

"Do we have do?" Olette asked as she and Will dodged a flying rum bottle.

"Unfortunately, we do," said Nessie. She then caught a flying rum bottle, sniffed at it's contents and threw it away in disgust, "I'll never understand why some humans find it enjoyable to poison themselves with drugs, especially beverages made from fermented and distilled grains and fruits."

"That's because you have no appreciation for the finer things in life, lass" said one particular pirate. He wore a black coat with a tricorn hat over which a large red neckerchief was tied around his forehead.. His hair was in dreadlocks and had very prominent eyelashes. A single flintlock pistol was stuck in his belt. In his hand that wasn't occupied by a rum bottle was a black compass. He walked over to Hayner, Nessie and the others, moving with a slightly unbalanced gait, "water maybe the life, but rum is the soul."

"I'm not so sure of that," said Nessie.

Just then two particularly ugly pirates staggered up and tried to fool around with Nessie. "What 'ave we here?" the dunker of the two pirates asked as they glared lustfully at the young half vampire, "A pretty thing, that's for sure."

"A very pretty thing," said the other drunk pirate, "and fresh if I'm not mistaken."

"Gentlemen," said Nessie in an annoyed tone, "you do not want to continue down this path. I can be very nasty when provoked."

"Oh, but we likes them nasty," said the first drunk pirate, "don't we?"

"We sure does," said the other drunk pirate. He then grabbed Nessie by the wrist.

"I warned you!" said Nessie. She then broke the pirate's arm in three places before he could blink. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his mangled arm, moaning in agony

"Hey now, that's not right," said the other drunk pirate. He then fumbled for his cutlass. Nessie grabbed the sword first, snapped it in half with just her fingers, then broke the dunkards's arm in three places.

"Now you listen to me, you filthy vermin!" said Nessie to the now writhing in agony pirates, "I'm off limits, as are my friends. So stay away from us, and tell your friends and everyone else here the same thing, or else a lot more bones will be broken, and then some."

"I'd listen to the young lass, mates," said the hat-wearing pirate, "she's got a terrible feelin' about her, one not to be trifled with, savvy?"

"What he said," said Pence, while Hayner and the others nodded.

"You scurvy git," snapped one of the dunk pirates to the hat-wearing pirate, "you had somethin' to do with this!"

"I'll wager you set this whole thing up with these horrible youngsters," said the other drunkard.

"That would be nearly impossible, mates," said the hat-wearing pirate, "being as such that these youngsters are as much strangers to me as they are to thee. So just run along back to your crews and enjoy the rest of the night."

The two drunkards hurried to another part of the town, leaving Hayner, Pence and Olette feeling relieved, "there's two who won't be bothering us again," said Hayner.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Will, "they're pirates, and if I know anything about pirates, its that their crews look out for each other more often than not."

"They'll be back," said Nessie, "and they'll bring their friends. Let's just ask if anyone's seen Jacob and get out of here."

"Ah," said the hat-wearing pirate, "the strong lass is looking for someone, a lover perhaps?"

"Not yet," said Nessie, "Jacob and I were made for each other, but we're not at that level of a relationship yet."

"A pity," said the hat wearing pirate, "one would thing that a girl with such monstrous strength would have captured the hearts of many men."

"I only have one heart in mind," said Nessie.

"Excuse me," said Olette to the pirate, "but we're in kind of a hurry, so, have you seen anyone named Jacob Black around here?"

Nessie then gave the pirate a description of Jacob, "so have you seen him? It's very important that we find him."

"Alas, I have not, dear lass," said the pirate, "I've sailed these waters through storm and calm, through thick and thin, yet I've never met anyone like you've said, and I have seen a lot."

"Oh," said Nessie in a deflated tone, "Well, we'll just ask someone else."

"There's bound to be someone in this…place," said Will, "who might know where Jacob is."

"You could ask around all you wish," said the pirate, "and get nowhere, or, you can have someone guide you. These are treacherous waters you wish to tread through; one could run aground on a reef without someone with the proper knowledge."

"And you're offering to be our guide?" Nessie asked, "for a price of course."

"Naturally," said the pirate.

"And whom do we have the pleasure of addressing?" Nessie asked.

"Isn't it a custom somewhere to give ones own name first before demanding it of another?" the pirate asked, "but then again, I've never been one to rely on traditions, except for the Code of the Pirates, which is merely guidelines to begin with.

"As for this individual, yours truly being Captain Jack Sparrow; master and commander of _The Black Pearl_, at your service."

"Please to meet you, Captain Jack Sparrow," said Will. He and the others then introduced themselves.

"Will Parry is it?" Jack asked, "I once knew a man who's first name being Will. Quite the pirate himself, much like his father."

"My father wasn't a pirate," said Will in a slightly annoyed tone, "he was an explorer who sought the truth, and he got far more than he asked for."

Just then the two drunken pirates returned, with fifty more slightly drunk pirates, obviously part of their crew.

"That's her!" said one of the pirates with a broken arm, "that's the she-devil who did this to us!"

"Oh great," said Kirjava, "just what we needed, a pitched battle."

"That cat just talked!" exclaimed one of the other pirates, while the others backed away in shock.

"She's not a cat," said Will as Kirjava leapt into his arms, "she's my soul."

"Your soul, say you?" Jack asked, "that's interesting."

"I don't care how interesting it is!" said one of the other pirates, a particularly large and ugly one with several scars on his face, "we have no quarrel with you, Jack Sparrow, not today anyway, but that girl, and the other little ones, they're coming with us."

"We have unfinished business with them!" said another of the other pirates, "nobody threatens our crew and gets away with it!" at that the other pirates all drew their weapons.

"I'd reconsider this course of action if I were yous," said Jack, "these younglings all look like they can take care of themselves, and the names' Captain Jack Sparrow, thank you very much."

"Don't try to intimidate us, Jack," said the scarred pirate, "just because you stole _The Black Pearl _back from Barbossa, doesn't mean you're untouchable, like Barbosa was."

"Barbossa was the one who stole _The Pearl _from me," said Jack, "I got her back fair and square."

"That may be," said the scarred pirate, "but that still doesn't mean you're safe from the rest of us. Barbossa made a lot of enemies among the waves, enemies who'll be itching for retribution now that he's gone."

"That would be a fruitless pursuit," said Jack, "since Barbossa's good and dead."

"I was saying that they'd take their anger out on you in Barbossa's stead," said the scarred pirate, "your ship may be the fastest on the waves, but she's not invincible. Our advice, watch your back while at sea, and on land."

"I'll keep that advice to heart," said Jack, "now," he stood up, "if you'll excuse me, I do believe there's some ladies of the evening that I've been meaning to visit."

"Just a minute," said Nessie, "we still haven't agreed on weather or not you're going to help us, so just wait."

"Enough talk!" shouted one of the other pirates, "let's just kill the buggers!" At that the mob of pirates all shouted with rage and rushed at Hayner and the others.

"I got it," said Will. He charged up his Ki and drew his sword. He and Kirjava rushed at the enemy pirates. They dodged all their drunken attacks, then struck back, not killing but severely wounding several of the enemy pirates.

"Don't have all the fun without me,"" said Nessie as she attacked several more of the enemy pirates, breaking arms and legs left and right.

Within minutes the mob of pirates had been driven off. "I think we've made the wrong impression here," said Hayner as the last of the enemy pirates limped away.

"I think we should be leaving while we still have the chance," said Will, "we may have to fight more pirates soon."

"You're right," Nessie, "but we still need help if we're going to look for Jacob," she looked at Jack, "you can either help us, Captain Jack Sparrow, and earn a profit for your troubles, or you can go about your business and we'll take our chances."

"There's one problem with that," said Pence, "the only munny we have is what we got from destroying all those Heartless and Nobodies, and what we've got left over from outfitting _The Voyaging Light_, which isn't much."

"Heartless you say?" Jacked asked, "tell me, are any of you acquainted with a lad of about 15 years with brown hair and armed with a sword that resembles a key? Who has two companions, one of which is a magic-using duck?"

"Sora, Donald and Goofy," said Olette, "do you know them?"

"They were part of me crew for a while," said Jack, "we faced many perils and fought many evils together. Why, I wouldn't be speaking with you fine younglings today if it weren't for young Sora and his companions. As far as I'm concerned, a mate of Sora's a mate of mine."

"Then you'll help us?" Olette asked, "we can't pay you much, but…"

"I'm not interested in what little currency you have," said Jack, "no, I'm after a far bigger prize. Recently, I came across a map that, according to a friend of a friend of a friend of mine, leads to a grand treasure, greater than the cursed gold of Isla de Muerta."

"I have no idea what that means," said Will.

"Well permit me to enlighten you," said Jack, "imagine 880 pieces of Aztec gold stored in a great stone chest. Each piece carries a terrible curse; who so ever takes a piece from the chest is cursed with living death. Food turns to ashes in their mouths, rum fails to quench, and even the pleasures of the flesh fail to arouse one's heart. Only by returning the gold to the chest, and paying a blood tribute, can the curse be broken."

"Sounds spooky," said Nessie, "you want us to go after this cursed gold for you?"

"Forget about it!" said Pence, "no way am I even thinking about even touching cursed gold."

"Even if I wanted the gold, which I don't," said Jack, "recovering it would be an impossibility. Young Sora convinced me to cast the chest and all its cursed contents down to Davy Jones Locker. Had you been paying attention, you would have heard this one saying that he is after a bigger prize."

"What could be bigger than 880 pieces of cursed gold?" Hayner asked, "881 pieces?"

"Bigger," said Jack, "gold, silver, diamonds and more precious jewels than you can imagine. This treasure, mind you, is not cursed."

"Then what's the problem?" Kirjava asked.

"The problem, my fantastic feline friend," said Jack, "is that the map leading to the treasure is all but impossible to read. As for the treasure, while itself is not cursed, it is guarded by beings who might as well be cursed, for no creatures such as these, as my friend of a friend of a friend has told me, cannot be of this world otherwise."

"Let me get this straight," said Nessie, "you'll help us look for Jacob, in exchange for our helping you read a strange map so you can find treasure that's guarded by monsters. Am I wrong?"

"Not in the slightest," said Jack, "So then," he held out his hand, "do we have an arrangement?"

"I think this is a bad idea," said Hayner, "we can't trust this guy; he's a pirate for crying out loud."

"But he knows Sora," said Olette.

"He seems okay to me," said Pence, "but I don't know if he's that okay."

"He hasn't given us a reason not to trust him yet," said Will.

"And he knows his way around this world," said Kirjava, "so we'll get to do a little treasure hunting while looking for Jacob, a small delay."

"And we'll be looking for Jacob all the time," said Nessie, "and that'll make any treasure hunt worth it," she held out her hand, "you have a deal, Captain Jack Sparrow," she spat into her hand, while Jack spat into his and they shook on it.

Just then Olette saw several of the enemy pirates were coming back, and they were bringing more and more drunk and irate pirates with them

"Looks like we definitely pissed off the wrong crowd tonight," said Nessie.

"Why drag me into this complication?" Jack asked, "you and young Master Will there, you're the ones who did all the bone breaking tonight."

"Argue later," said a nervous Pence as the drunk and irate pirates began closing in on them, "let's just go."

"I hope your ship is fast," said Hayner as they made their way towards the docks, "I've got a feeling we're going to need to get off this island in a hurry."

"No need to be concerned for speed," said Jack, "_The Pearl _is the fastest on the waves."

Just then Jack was accosted by an irate wench, wearing a red and blue dress that showed a lot of skin, "where do you think you're going, Jack Sparrow?" the wench asked in an angry tone.

"Ah, Jessica," said Jack in a flabbergasted tone, "I was just…"

Instead of waiting for an explanation, Jessica abruptly slapped Jack across the face, leaving him with a stunned expression on his face, "not sure I deserved that," he said.

Just then another irate wench walked up, wearing blue and white.

"Crystal," said a nervous Jack, "I was just…"

"Who was that?" an angry Crystal asked before abruptly slapping Jack across the face.

"I probably deserved that," said Jack.

"Let's get out of here before you receive any further just deserts," said Kirjava.

They reached the docks, where dozens of pirate ships of all shape and sizes lay at anchor. But Jack lead Nessie, Hayner and the others to one ship that was all black; the hull, the sails and rigging, she was all black, except for the white grinning skull and crossbones on the black flag.

"_The Black Pearl_," said Jack, "ladies and gentlemen," he said to Hayner and the others as he bowed extravagantly, "I bid you welcome to my humble home."

"She's quite a ship," said Pence.

"Awesome," said Olette.

They boarded the ship and were greeted by a gray-haired man, slightly portly and with mutton chops on his face.

"Ah, Mr. Gibbs," said Jack, "how goes the procurement of the provisions?"

"Everything's been stowed below decks, Jack," said Gibbs.

"What about the rum?" Jack asked, "we can't leave without it."

"I made sure that the stores are full of rum, just as you asked," said Gibbs. He then noticed Nessie, Hayner and the others, "am I correct that we're to be taking on new crewmembers tonight?"

"The younglings and I have formed a pact," said Jack, "concerning the translation of the peculiar parchment we picked up in Trinidad."

"Oh, that old rag," said Gibbs in a disappointed tone, "are you sure you wish to waste not only your time, Jack, but all our time chasing after a treasure that may not even exist?"

"My dear friend, Gibbs," said Jack, "if every pirate and adventurer were to question the existence of every treasure in the world, then said adventurers and pirates would soon be seeking new employment by means of waiting in dreadfully long lines in some dreary office in some dreary city somewhere in some dreary country."

"Then we're still going after the treasure?" Gibbs asked, "that is, assuming you've found someone who can make sense of the map."

"Just show us the map," said Nessie, "and we'll decode it."

Just then the sound of a large mob of angry and drunk pirates could be heard approaching the docks.

"Who did you kill this time, captain?" one of the crew of _The Black Pearl _asked jokingly.

"Or who did you sleep with?" another crewman asked.

"Actually," said Nessie, "I'm partly to blame."

"As am I," said Will.

At that the crew of _The Black Pearl _all laughed, "those brats?" one crewmember asked, "they hardly look like they can throw a punch, let alone start a riot!"

At that Nessie took offense, but instead of lashing out like a vampire would, she instead turned the tables on the crew. She then adopted a pirate's accent, "alas, me lads, young Master Parry and I are indeed responsible for this fiasco. You sees, me mates and I are searching for someone dear to me heart, and your captain offered to help us search for this dear one, in exchange for our services in the discovery of this treasure your captain wants."

"Aye," said Will as he also spoke in a pirate's accent, "we's be adventurers ourselves, and if it leads to the finding our friend, we'd gladly sail under the flag of a pirate, as long as needed, that is."

"What he said," said Pence, while Hayner and Olette nodded in agreement.

"Well spoken," said Jack, he then spoke to his crew, "listen up, you mangy fleabag seadogs! These younglings have agreed to come with us for this voyage we're about to undertake. Don't think lightly of them, especially the bronze-haired maiden," he indicated Nessie, "or the boy with the talking cat," he indicated Will and Kirjava, "they're more than capable, so anyone who tries to start trouble with them, does so at their own dire peril. Is that understood?"

"Aye, captain!" said the crew.

"Uh, Jack," said Gibbs as he nervously looked at the approaching angry mob, "might I suggest that we weigh anchor and make sail?"

"Your suggestion that we take our leave is duly noted," said Jack. He then saw the angry mob, which was about thirty yards from the ship, "and has been taken to my heart." He then shouted to the crew, "Weigh anchor! Set sail! Put your backs into it, you lazy lubbers!"

"If you don't mind, captain," said Nessie, while the crew hurried about getting _The Black Pearl_ ready for sea, "I believe I can get us out of here that much faster." Without waiting for a response, she ran to the anchor and pulled it up like it was a paperweight. She then ran up the rigging and unfurled all the sails. The ship caught the wind and was soon on her way out of the harbor, while the angry mob was left dumbfounded on the docks.

"Alas, my dear friends!" Jack shouted to the mob as he leaned over the deck railing as _The Black Pearl _headed out to sea, "you will all remember this night as the night you almost lynched Captain…" a wave then splashed Jack, soaking him, "…Jack Sparrow," he said in a deflated tone.

"This happens to the captain frequently," said Gibbs to Hayner.

"Well then," said Jack as he shrugged off the sudden soaking like it was nothing, "shall we get down to business."

A crewmember brought to Jack a large roll of parchment, which unrolled to reveal a map of a tropical island, "this be our destination," he then opened his compass, "helmsman! Set course…" he looked at the compass needle spin around several times before finally pointing south-southeast, "…that way!" he pointed south-southeast.

"South-southeast, aye captain!" said the helmsman.

"That's a strange compass," said Will, "not as fantastic as another compass I once saw, but strange nonetheless."

"How can you rely on a compass that doesn't point north?" Olette asked.

"Because it's no ordinary compass," said Nessie.

"How'd you figure that out?" Jack asked suspiciously as he hastily pocketed the compass.

"I'm from a world were things aren't always what they seem," said Nessie, "and with the right eyes, you can tell what's not ordinary."

"How right you are," said Jack as he took out the compass, "this here compass, as the young lass said," he indicated Olette, "does not in fact point north. Rather, it points to whatever its holder, meaning yours truly, wants."

"Really?" Pence asked, "anything you want?"

"What if what you want is something really special," said Nessie as she eyed the compass, "the one thing your heart truly desires."

"Then it would point to it," said Jack. Just then the compass pointed to the stairs leading below decks, "now if you younglings will excuse me for a tic, I believe there's rum below with my name on it." he sauntered down below decks.

"That pirate has a magic compass," said Nessie, "I sensed that it was magic to begin with, but…"

"A compass that points to your hearts desire," said Will, "with that you…"

"She could find Jacob in a heartbeat," said Olette.

"Assuming he's on this world," said Hayner.

"But if he isn't," said Kirjava, "that compass can tell us if we're heading to the right world."

"We've got to get that compass," said Pence in a determined tone.

"I don't think our 'brave' captain is going to part with it," said Nessie, "I've got a feeling that it's one of a handful of things that Jack truly loves in this world; aside from _The Black Pearl_, and rum of course."

She then sighed, "but even if we don't have the compass, we'll know soon enough if Jacob is on this world. My scent is on the wind by now. If Jacob's here, he'll sniff me out. So for now, we might as well have fun," at that she grinned eagerly, "And what's more fun than a treasure hunt?"

"I can think of a lot of things that are more fun than a treasure hunt," said Hayner. He then looked at the map, "so what's so special about this?"

"That's the conundrum," said Gibbs, "you see, we know which way to go, thanks to the captains' compass, but the true mystery lies with the map itself."

Hayne, Nessie and the others looked at the map and saw that the writing was in a language they had never seen before, "I'm guessing that the map tells of how to get to the treasure," said Will.

"And of the dangers of the island itself," said Gibbs, "according to many a dockside legend, many a brave crew of pirates and adventurers have attempted to reach this treasure. All have failed, with very few of their men returning alive, and even fewer returning with their minds whole. Those who survived speak of horrors not of this world; of monsters and beasts out of mans' worst nightmares that guard the treasure like it was a holy relic."

"And Jack wants to get this treasure that's guarded by monsters?" Pence asked.

"A treasure that other crews have tried to get to but nearly everyone who's tried has either died or gone nuts?" Olette asked.

"That's the gist of it," said Gibbs.

"Your captain is clearly off his rocker," said Will.

"And greedy," said Kirjava.

"But not without his merits," said Jack as he walked back on deck with a bottle of rum in hand, "and it's not just the gold and other shiny things I'm after. Sure, there's danger abound, and not everyone going on this hunt's may come back alive, but it's worth it.

"It's not just the promise or riches and fame for conquering a treasure guarded by monsters. It's the challenge, the thrill of the hunt, that makes it worth it. And of course, the gold at the end, but mainly the challenge, savvy?"

"I think I know what you mean," said Nessie, "where I come from, people like me have to keep a low profile, in order to avoid being hunted by humans out of their fear of us. Aside for hunting and acquiring outrageously expensive material possessions, there's not many opportunities for new experiences, and things can get pretty boring for some of us.

"It's the thrill of adventure, the sense of danger all around, and above all freedom, that drives us to higher and higher goals, and what makes a pirate a pirate," she winked at Jack, "am I right or am I right?"

"The strong lass understands," said a grinning Jack, "I believe the phrase for what we have here is a kindred spirit."

"Well if you two are kindred spirits," said Olette, "then so are we."

"Nessie is our friend," said Hayner, "where she goes, we go."

"Right," said Pence.

"Even if our destination does lead us to monsters that'll either kill us or drive us insane," said Will.

"Right," said Kirjava, "so then, let's get cracking on that map."

"If it's written, it can be understood," said Will, "we just need to figure out what language was used."

"It's not English, old or modern," said Nessie, "but the letters are in English."

"It isn't French, German, Italian, Russian or any other language I know," said Will.

"Wait," said Pence as he looked at the map from a different angle, "I think…yes! Backwards! The words are written backwards!"

"You're right!" said both Hayner and Olette.

"How'd you figure that out?" Kirjava asked.

"You just need to think outside the box sometimes," said Pence, "whoever made this map clearly wanted it to be understood, but didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, so he wrote the words backwards, where whoever it was meant for would know how to read it." He then looked around the deck, "anyone got something to write on?'

"Here," said Will as he took out from his pocket a pad of paper and a pen, "I always keep something to write with."

"Thanks," said Pence as he took the pen and paper. He then copied down the words on the map with the letters in the right order. "It says…'beware, foolish seekers of gold and adventure, for this treasure is guarded by The Children of The Great Old Ones.'"

"The Great Old Ones," said Nessie, "that sounds familiar. I've heard that phrase before, when I was training to use magic, but I only heard it once and it was only in passing. I looked it up, they were supposedly these really powerful creatures that existed on Earth long before humans evolved."

"I've heard of them as well," said Will, "they had different understandings of science and the fundamental makeup of reality. Most of what is known about them comes from legends that go back to before recorded history."

"So these ancient monsters are here," said Hayner, "guarding a treasure."

"Not really," said Will as he looked at what Pence wrote, "if these were The Great Old Ones, then their names would have been on the map, names like Yig, Nyogtha or Cthulhu."

"Oh, Cthulhu I've heard about," said Nessie, "He's supposedly destined to come back to Earth, 'when the stars are right,' and reshape the world in his own inhuman image."

"But none of the Old Ones are mentioned," said Will, "instead, the map says 'Children' of the Great Old Ones."

"What does that mean?" Olette asked.

"I don't know," said Nessie in a thoughtful manner, "I've never heard of them before. Maybe…it could just be a cult, a bunch of humans worshiping the Old Ones."

"There's a few Old Ones cults on my world as well," said Will, "they stir up trouble now and then, mostly with human sacrifices, but the authorities deal with them quickly enough."

"Same on my world," said Nessie.

"A cult of monster worshipers who practice the sacrifice of humans," said Jack, "and they're all that's standing between us and the treasure? Pardon me, but that seems all to easy, if you know what I mean."

"It does seem easy," said Nessie, "especially with all the stories about very few people coming back from this island alive and all of them insane."

"Maybe the cultists only sacrifice part of the pirates and adventurers who go after the treasure," said Hayner, "and force the rest into joining the cult."

"They must use psychotropic drugs to brainwash their 'initiates,'" said Pence, "and those that get away are so messed up in the head they can barely talk straight."

"I think we're going a little overboard with the speculation," said Kirjava, "we don't even know for sure if this is a cult we're dealing with, or even monsters."

"What else does the map say?" Nessie asked.

"Just vague warnings of monsters and curses," said Pence, "and directions to the treasure, and more warnings not to go after the treasure."

"That would render the purpose of the map null and void," said Jack, "if whoever made the map didn't want whoever reads it to get the treasure, then he wouldn't have made the map at all. Even so, he wouldn't have penned those warnings of monsters and fiends if the treasure wasn't worth going after."

"Where I come from," said Will, "when there's a danger, they put up a warning to keep away, not to draw you into the danger."

"But the danger isn't clearly defined," said Nessie, "whoever wrote the map must have been truly frightened when he made it, but not coherent enough to state what the danger was, only the threat of the danger itself. For all we know, the only thing we'll have to worry about is drug-induced cultists. I think it's worth going to the island."

"I think so too," said Hayner, "we won't know if we don't go."

"Fortune favors the bold," said Olette, while Pence nodded in agreement.

"I guess we might as well," said Will, "we've nothing else to do on this world."

"And we did make an agreement with our brave captain," said Kirjava, "but I think we need to renegotiate the bargain just a bit."

"Hold it!" said Jack, "among pirates, a deal is a deal. The Pirate Code says so."

"I thought you said that it was just guidelines," said Nessie.

"It depends on the situation," said Jack, "we pirates have a saying, 'when in doubt, keep to the code.'"

"I'm not trying to change the deal," said Kirjava, "just add one more condition. We'll let you have first pick of the treasure, Captain Jack Sparrow, depending on just how big the treasure is."

"Interesting," said Jack, "and what do you wish in return for this generous offer?"

"Let Nessie borrow that fantastic compass of yours," said Kirjava in a matter of fact manner, "just long enough to know which way her love lies."

"That's exactly what I want," said Nessie. She looked at Jack, "you can have whatever of the treasure you want, Jack Sparrow, but after we get the treasure, I get to use your compass to help me find Jacob."

"If that's all the strong lass wants," said Jack, "then that's what you shall receive. Upon completion of this adventure, once the treasure is secured, you shall use my compass to find the one who has stolen your heart."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Jack Sparrow," said Nessie as they shook on it.

"I think we're starting to get in over our heads," said Olette to Hayner in a hushed tone.

"Maybe," said Hayner, "but we've got one trump card," he pulled out his cell phone, just enough to show Olette that he still had it, "if things start to get really, really bad, one quick call and Vivi will beam us out of here."

"I know," said Olette, "but I don't think we should fully rely on it. We can leave at any time, but we shouldn't just run away at the first sign of trouble."

"That's right," said Hayner, "this is our first off world adventure, we still don't know what's out there."

"One thing's for sure," said Pence as he got in on the conversation, "Nessie's hooked on finding this treasure for Jack, if only to get that compass of his."

"It's a unique compass for sure," said Will, "but like I said, I knew a more fantastic one."

* * *

><p><em>The Black Pearl <em>sailed on the heading the compass described for several hours with a good wind. Within a few hours they were in sight of a fog-enshrouded island.

"How'd we get here so quickly?" Olette asked.

"I told you," said Jack smugly, "_The Pearl_ is the fastest ship on the waves."

"Cool," said an impressed Will. He then looked at the map, "apparently the best place to make landfall is that cove over there," he pointed to said cove.

"Then that is where we shall go," said Jack. He then spoke to the crew, "prepare the longboat! We're going after that treasure!" at that the crew cheered loudly.

A short time later Jack, Nessie, Will, Kirjava, Hayner, Pence, Olette and several other members of the crew, including Gibbs, rowed ashore. The island had a long, wide beach leading up to a dense jungle that went all the way up to a large mountain range further inland.

"According to the map," said Hayner as they made landfall, "we are to proceed inland three miles on a north-northwest heading, where we'll reach a large hill with a some sort of statue." He pointed to the jungle

"Fortune favors the bold," said Nessie, "I'll go first. If there's any trouble coming our way, I can sniff it out first."

"If the lass says she'll be able to intercept any threats to our well being," said Jack, "then by all means, lead they way."

Nessie nodded in acknowledgement, then smiled mysteriously, "but just so you and your crew know, Jack Sparrow, I'll also be paying attention to everything that's going on behind me. If you or your mates try anything against me or my mates, weather it's because we solved the riddle of the map for you and you don't need us any more, or because you want all of the treasure for yourselves, or you just don't want to share your compass, or anything else, I'll beat you to the punch and make you regret any thoughts of betrayal." With that she turned and walked towards the jungle with her sword drawn to cut through obstructive foliage.

"I don't know if she's serious about that or not," said Olette as she and the others followed Nessie through the jungle.

"Well if she cares that much," said Will, "then I guess we're very fortunate and in a lot of trouble."

After two miles the jungle rose up a hill and formed a clearing at the tip. Right at the top of the hill was a statue, just like the map said there would be one. But the map didn't say what statue would be there.

"What in the name of Calypso is that?" a horrified Gibbs asked as he and the other pirates, except for Jack, frantically crossed themselves at the sight of the stature. It was twelve feet tall with a human torso and limbs, but that's where the similarity of a man ended. The statue had bat wings that were proportionately too small. The head was of an octopus with tentacles where the mouth should be.

"That's Cthulhu," said Will, "I think."

"It's him alright," said Nessie, "The great Old One that lies dead yet not dead."

"How can something be dead yet not dead?" one of the pirates asked.

"Zombies?" Pence offered.

"Undead pirates that were cursed by stolen Aztec gold?" said Gibbs.

"It's just a statue, mates," said Jack, "a disturbing statue, and ugly as a sea cow, but not one to be taken too seriously. Why, if we were to be frightened by every statue, then there wouldn't be statues, we'd be too afraid to make them."

"Jack's right," said Hayner, "this thing was probably put here to scare people away from the treasure. It only shows that we're going the right way."

"The map says we're to turn due east for one and a half miles until we get to a river," said Pence as he looked at said map.

As they continued through the jungle, Hayner noticed Will tense up, "you okay?" he asked Will.

"We're being watched," said Will, "I can feel it, like an itch on the back of my neck that isn't really there. I know we're being watched."

"If that's true," said Olette, "then who's watching us?"

"More like what," said Nessie said as she stopped to tie her bootlace, "I've been smelling something awful ever since we got into the jungle. It was faint at first, just an old trace, but the scent is getting stronger. It smells like humans, but humans that have been spoiled, or changed into something really horrible."

"How horrible are we talking about?" Jack asked, "certain doom horrible? Or just plain horrible?"

"Somewhere in between," said Nessie as she stood up, "but the scent, while becoming more pronounce, is still at a distance. For now we're not in serious danger, not one that I'm going to run away from," she looked at Jack, Hayner and the others, "but if anyone wishes to turn back and return to the ship, now's the time to do so. I'm afraid that from here on in, there's no going back."

Everyone looked at each other.

Hayner spoke first, "I'm not one to run away from a bad smell, even if it's one I can't even smell. I'm going."

"Same with me," said Will, while Kirjava, Pence and Olette nodded in agreement.

"Far be me to flee from a bad smell," said Jack, "that treasure beckons us all." At that Gibbs and the other pirates nodded in agreement.

"Okay then," said Nessie, "we go forward. But everyone stay sharp! Whatever's making that smell could attack us at any moment. We're in its territory now." With that she and the others pressed forward.

A short while later they came to the river the map stated. The map didn't say that the river was down a several-hundred foot chasm.

"How do we get across?" an exasperated Hayner asked, "whoever made this map must have a really sick imagination."

"Look," said Olette as she pointed, "there's a bridge."

The bridge was, of course, a very old rope bridge that was on the verge of falling apart.

"You'd think you could have a treasure hunt without a condemned bridge to cross," said Pence.

"Then things would be boring," said Nessie. She looked at the far side of the chasm, "how far would you say that distance across is? 200 feet? 300?"

"I'd say more like 350," said Will, "what? Do you think you can make it across?"

"Oh I know I can make it across," said Nessie, "but my question is if we have a rope long enough to cross with me? If I can get across, then I can tie a rope on the other side, as a safety line for when the others cross the bridge."

"As a matter of fact," said Gibbs, "we do have a long enough rope." One of the pirates handed Nessie said rope. She tied one end to a tree near our heroes, then without any further preparation, jumped across the chasm and landed neatly on the other side.

"How's that for a slice of fried gold?" Nessie shouted as she tied the other end of the rope to a tree.

"Awesome, naturally!" shouted Will.

One by one Hayner, Jack and the others crossed the bridge without incidence.

"Okay," said Olette, "now what?"

"There's a mountain up ahead," said Pence as he looked at the map, "the treasure is in a cave about half a mile up the mountain."

"Then let's go!" said Nessie. She took two steps forward, but stopped as she recoiled sharply, as if from something really repulsive.

"Ugg!" she shouted as she held her nose, "it's disgusting!"

"What's disgusting?" Hayner and the others caught up with her, but then they all made disgusted faces, "oh, now I smell it, it's sick!"

"It's like a raw egg, put in a shoe and buried beneath a chicken coop," said Will, "and a brown egg to boot."

"How would you know that?" Pence asked.

"You don't want to know," said Will.

"You really don't," said Kirjava.

"It is rather, unpleasant," said Jack, "but I've smelled worse, don't ask me how I know that."

"It's worse than that," said Nessie, "it's more than what's on this island. It's the demons, they're here as well."

"The demons?" Olette asked, "like the ones that attacked our town?"

"Yeah," said Nessie, "different demons, but demons none the less." She tensed, "wait, there's something else, I hear something. Drums, lots of drums, and chanting voices."

"I think I hear drums as well," said Olette.

"I hear drums too," said one of the pirates, while the other pirates muttered nervously and crossed themselves.

True enough, there were drums in the distance, and they seemed to be coming from up the mountain. "I have a suspicious feeling," said Jack, "that we're about to meet The Children of the Great Old Ones."

"There's still time to turn back," said Nessie, "we have no idea what's up ahead. For all we know, there could be a whole army of demons waiting to destroy us."

"That's a distinct possibility," said Jack, "but then, we'd lose the opportunity to obtain the treasure, as well as your losing the chance of finding the man who has captured your heart."

"Good point," said Nessie, "let's go."

"How sure are we that Jack isn't crazy?" Pence whispered to Hayner, Olette, Will and Kirjava.

"How do we know that Nessie isn't crazy?" Olette asked, "all we can be sure is that she's our friend and we should trust her."

"I guess you're right," said Pence.

They pressed forward up the mountain and reached the cave that the map stated.

"The smell and noise is coming from in there," said Nessie, "and unless that map was really made by a lunatic, so is the treasure."

"Do we really want to go in there?" Pence asked.

"If not, then this whole trip has been a really big waste of everyone's time," said Will.

"This is the last time I'll say it," said Nessie, "if anyone wants to turn back, now's the time."

"We've come this far," said Hayner.

"Mr. Gibbs," said Jack, "what would you say to turning back?"

"I'd say that we'd be fools to go forward or back," said Gibbs, "the promises of riches is equal to the threat of danger."

"Six of one," said Will, "half a dozen of another. Alright," he pulled out a coin from his pocket, "we'll leave it to chance. Heads we go forward, tails we go back." He flipped the coin into the air. He almost caught it but it slipped through his fingers, and as luck would have it, the coin landed on edge on the ground.

"Wow," said a dumbfounded Will, "what are the odds of that happening?"

"Not good," said Nessie, "So, what do we do now?"

"We pick the coin up and do it again," said a slightly annoyed Pence, "yeesh! Just because of one improbable event, you guys lose your minds," he picked up the coin, flipped and caught it, "Heads."

"Guess there's no arguing with that," said Hayner

"Then in we go," said Jack.

They went into the cave, which turned out to be a long tunnel that twisted and turned for a quarter mile or so, before opening up to a large cavern lit by hundreds of green torches. Our heroes crawled to the edge of a ledge that looked out over the cavern and was shocked at what they saw

The cavern was filled of hundreds of men and women around a massive statue of Cthulhu. The humans all wore gray body paint with blue and green symbols. Some of them humans appeared to have mutations such as scaled skin or fewer digits on their hands, while some had tentacles for arms, while others had clawed limbs.

The cultists were all clad in either loincloths or skins, which appeared to be tanned human flesh. All of the cultists were armed with either spears or knives.

"So these are The Children of The Great Old Ones," said Jack, "that's interesting."

"Well, the map maker was right about horrors," said Gibbs.

"And he was right about the treasure," said one of the pirates. Behind the Cthulhu statue was a huge pile of gold, silver and other precious items of incredible wealth.

"Great, we found the treasure," said Pence, "now how are we going to get it without getting killed?"

"How do we know these…people…aren't friendly?" Olette asked, "maybe if we're real nice, they'll just give it to us."

"They're mutated cultists who worship a monster," said Will, "and unless I'm mistaken, they're all armed with spears and knives, some of them bloodstained. In what universe will asking them to give us the treasure work?"

"Wait," said Nessie as she sniffed the air, "the demons, they're down there somewhere."

Our heroes then saw several individuals talking by the statue. Three of them were cultists; two wore blue and green cloaks with headdresses that had the embalm of Cthulhu. The third had a cloak and headdress, and had an extra Chtulhu embalm on a medallion around his neck.

"My guess is those three be the priests and high priest," said Jack as he pointed to the three humans.

"Who are they talking to?" Olette asked, "and why are they wearing business suits like they would on our world?"

The other three by the statue were wearing pinstripe suits and did look like ordinary humans, except for their snake-like eyes.

"Demons," whispered an irate Nessie, "the same kind that first tried to kidnap me."

"What are they doing down there?" Hayner asked.

"Looks like a business meeting to me," said Will, "like they're trying to negotiate something."

"I wish we could hear what they're saying," said Kirjava.

"Did you know I could read lips?" Nessie asked while grinning, "the demons want something from the cultists. The cultists are trying to negotiate the most out of the demons, to get the best price for whatever the demons want, and the demons, they're willing to pay a fair price for…I knew it, they're still after that talisman."

"What is this talisman you speak of?" Jack asked, "and is it valuable?"

"It's clearly valuable," said Nessie, "otherwise Gideon wouldn't want it so badly. Wait, the demons and cultists are now negotiating a price. The demons just offered…two hundred, I don't know what they offered. The cultists want five hundred."

"Five hundred of what?" Pence asked.

"I don't know," said Nessie, "the demons just raised their offering to two hundred and fifty. The cultists made a counter offer of four hundred fifty. The demons offered two hundred and seventy five, while the cultists went to four hundred and thirty. Whatever it is that the demons want, this talisman, the cultists must know just how valuable it is and aren't willing to let it go for chump change."

Just then Pence accidentally knocked a rock off the ledge. The rock made a very loud racket as it bounced its way to the cavern floor.

"Oh crap," said a very embarrassed Pence.

The cultists and demons looked up and saw the adventurers. The high priest pointed and shouted, causing the cultists to go wild and run up a path to the ledge.

"Standby for trouble, mates!" said Jack as everyone stood up and drew their weapons.

But then one of the demons, wearing a brown suit shouted, "Stop! We want them alive!"

The cult leader barked an order, causing the cultists to calm down.

One of the demons, wearing a gray suit, spoke, "let's not keep our friends unwelcome," it stood forward, "do come down, friends. Let us discuss business like civilized individuals."

"No way!" shouted Hayner, "you just want us to lower our guard so you can kill us, or eat us."

"Please," said the third demon, wearing a black suit, while on his left wrist was a white Nobody controlling ring, "we may be monsters, but we're not that monstrous. If we wanted to destroy you, we would have done so by now."

"All we wish is to talk," said the brown suited demon, "that's all, talk, then you can be on your merry way."

"This has trap all over it," said Kirjava.

"Running sounds like a good idea right now," said Pence.

"Perhaps we should retreat, Captain," said Gibbs, "return to the ship for reinforcements."

"Or maybe just leave, captain," said one of the pirates, "there's other treasures out on the seas."

"There'll always be another treasure," said another of the pirates.

"After all, captain," said a third pirate, "'when in doubt, keep to the code.'"

"What does that mean?" Hayner asked.

"In this case, young ones," said Gibbs, "'ever man for himself.'"

"Well that sucks," said Pence.

"Are you coming down or not?" the black suited demon asked.

All along, Jack had a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was trying to figure out what to say next, "uh…parasol? Portugal? Party?"

"'Parley,' captain?" one of the pirates asked.

"That's it," said Jack. He then addressed the demons, "Parley. You gentlemen, if you have any honor, you'll allow us to converse without any harm from the local monstrosities, or you, and then you shall allow us to partake our leave."

"Very well," said the gray suited demon, "you have our solemn promise that you will not be harmed while we negotiate. Come down and we will talk."

"Then let's talk," said Nessie. With that they cautiously walked down to the cavern floor. The cultists reluctantly stepped aside for the adventurers and pirates as they made their way to the statue.

"Alright then," said Will, "you want to talk to us, so let's talk."

"You were one of the two humans children who witnessed the demise of The Authority," said the brown suited demon, "you once held The Subtle Knife."

"Yeah, so?" Will asked.

"And you, halfling," said the gray suited demon to Nessie, "you're that girl that Mr. Graves rejected."

"Get to the point, demon," said an irate Nessie, "you made us come down here to talk. So either talk or shut up."

"Forgive my comrades," said the black suited demon, "they were just confirming your identities. As it turns out, we're only here to acquire a certain item for Mr. Graves."

"The talisman," said Hayner, "your friends who attacked our world were looking for it."

"What is this talisman that your boss wants so much?" Pence asked.

"And is it valuable?" Jack asked.

"It's more valuable than you can imagine, Jack Sparrow," said the brown suited demon.

"Then it's clear that me mates and I should get this talisman first," said Jack, "and then have your master negotiate with us. And it's Captain Jack Sparrow."

"I think not," said the black suited demon, "you see, Mr. Graves wants this talisman and he gave us the leeway to get it by any means."

"These primitive worshipers of Cthulhu," said the gray suited demon, "they have what we seek. Yet we cannot simply take it from them, not without angering their god."

"Cthulhu may lie sleeping in his sunken city," said the black suited demon, "but his reach is still far and wide. If we were to harm his subjects, then the repercussions would reach all the way up to Mr. Graves, and he is in no mood to contend with Chtulhu."

"So we are prepared to negotiate a fair price for The Talisman," said the brown suited demon, "we offered the cultists whatever they wanted, but what we offered wasn't what they wanted. We offered treasure," he pointed to the gold and such around the stature, "they have plenty of it."

"We offered better clothing and tools," said the gray suited demon, "they had no need of such material possessions. Everything we offered, they either didn't want or had no need of."

"But we did have one thing that they want, the one thing that they need above all other things in this world," said the black suited demon, "human sacrifices."

"Chtulhu demands blood from his subjects," said the brown suited demon, "human blood. The cultist appeased their god by sacrificing any human, be he pirate or adventurer, who came to their island for their treasure. But these offerings to Chtulhu are infrequent, with no guarantee of when the next sacrifice will come.

"We offered to provide the cultists with sacrifices forever," said the gray suited demon, "we were just discussing how many at a time the cultists would get."

"But now that you're here," said the black suited demon as it grinned viciously, revealing needle-like teeth, "we can offer a down payment." At that the cult leader shouted to his people and the cultists began closing in on our heroes.

"You're going to sacrifice us!" exclaimed Pence as he, Hayner, Olette, Will, Kirjava, Nessie, Jack, Gibbs and the others bunched together defensively, "But you said…"

"You agreed to Parley!" said an outraged Nessie, "you promised to let us go after we finished talking!"

"This is a violation of The Pirate Code!" said one of the pirates.

"But we're not pirates," said the brown suited demon as he and the gray suited demon grinned viciously, both showing needle teeth, "so your pathetic Pirate Code has no authority over us."

"You can't insult the Pirate Code like that!" shouted one of the pirates.

"We just did," said the gray suited demon.

"I should have known you'd pull a fast one," growled Nessie, "just like Uncle Richard told me; never trust a demon to keep a promise. It'll always find a way to get ahead of you in everything.'"

"Your uncle is a wise vampire indeed," said the black suited demon, "too bad you're never going to see him or anyone from your world again."

"That spell Mr. Graves used to send you away from home," said the gray suited demon, "it did more than throw you out of your universe."

"What are you talking about?" Nessie asked, "what else did Gideon do to me?"

"Sorry, that's none of your business," said the black suited demon.

The cultists were about to close in on our heroes for the kill.

"Any bright ideas, anyone?" Pence asked.

"My thoughts lay in fighting our way out of here and getting as far away as we can," said Kirjava, "but that's just my opinion."

Just then Jack stepped forward, not showing any fear despite the hundreds of spears and knives ready to rip him to pieces, "if I could get a word or two in, that would be nicely."

"Save your words, human," sneered the gray suited demon, "you're about to be the next blood sacrifice to Cthulhu."

"I wasn't trying to speak with you, you…nasty beast from another world," said Jack. He then looked at the high priest of the cult, "you, I take it you know what I'm saying, savvy?"

"I speak your tongue," said the high priest, "what you want to say, it no stop us from spilling your blood to Great Old One. He needs blood, we give him blood." At that the cultists began shouting for the blood of the intruders.

"Ah, I understand your position, your high priest-ness," said Jack, "but the thing is, me and me mates aren't interested in your little religion. All we wants is the treasure, so if you'll just let us fill our pockets, we'll be on our way."

"Is he serious?" an exasperated Olette asked Gibbs, "we're about to be sacrificed to a monster god and all Jack cares about is the treasure?"

"He needs to get his priorities straight," said Kirjava.

"It's Jack's way," said Gibbs, "the captain is simply buying time for the rest of us to think of a means of getting ourselves out of her alive."

"Could have fooled me," said Will.

"Pirates are all same," said the high priest, "always wanting treasure. Great Old One makes them forget treasure soon enough. We spill pirates blood for Great Old One, we take gold and other shiny things from dead pirates, and offer gold and shiny things to Great Old One as well."

"So that's your game!" said Nessie in an accusing manner, "not only do you sacrifice anyone who comes to your island for your monstrous-god, and anyone else who has the bad luck to come here, you take whatever gold and such they have and add it to your treasure. You people are more than murdering savages, you're also thieves! You make me sick!"

"You're one to talk," said the black suited demon in a devious tone, as if planning something vile. It then teleported a bound and terrified human into the area. The demon then grew claws out of its hand and slashed the poor human's throat to the shock of our heroes.

"That was," said Jack, "unexpected."

"You sick bastards!" shouted Olette as the bound human bled to death.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, little girl," said the black suited demon, "but you should be more concerned for your half human friend there."

Hayner and the others saw that Nessie had a pained look on her face. They then realized that the smell of blood was in the air, and the scent of fresh blood was stirring up Nessie's vampire half.

"You know this scent, little vampire," taunted the gray suited demon, "you've tasted it and delighted in it, yet for years you've denied yourself of that which sustains you the most."

"It's not going to work," said Nessie as she fought against her vampire's instinct to feed on human blood, "I'm not like that. My family doesn't kill people. We're vegetarian vampires and proud of it."

"There's no such thing," said the black suited demon. It then summoned another bound and terrified human and slit her throat.

"Stop that!" shouted Olette, "it's murder!"

"Exactly," said the black suited demon. It looked at Nessie, "you may deny your nature, but the temptation will always be there, and it's so easy to give in to temptation. Tell me, how many times have your precious family fallen off the wagon over the years?"

"Not as many as you think," said Nessie as she tensed, fighting with herself against the desire to feed, "sure, my uncle Emmet had to learn the hard way, as did my father, and don't get me started on how hard it was for Uncle Jasper to kick the habit."

"But my Aunt Alice and Grandmother Esme took to our lifestyle with grace, they had a great teacher, my grandfather Carlisle. And Aunt Rosalie told me she never tasted human blood, never, and my mother hasn't since she became immortal. I kicked the habit, and I'm never falling off the wagon, ever!"

"A bold statement," said the black suited demon as it summoned a third bound and terrified human and slit his throat. By now Nessie looked like she was both about to be sick and have a nervous breakdown, there was so much blood on the floor.

"Stop it!" exclaimed Olette, "can't you see what you're doing to her!"

"I want her to suffer," said the black suited demon, "her mental and emotional agony, it's like fine wine to me."

"Exquisite," said the brown suited demon.

"Delectable," said the gray suited demon.

"You want suffering!" said Will, "I'll give you suffering! Jack, do you or any of your crew have any grenades on you?"

"I've got some," said one of the pirates. He pulled out a powder charge grenade with a short fuse, as well as a flint and steel.

"Perfect," said Will as he took the grenade, while the pirate use the flint and steel to light a spare piece of rope. He then looked at the high priest, "you! Tell your people to back away from us, now!"

"Insolent white dog!" shouted the high priest, "you no talk that way to servant of Great Old One! Your soul be tormented forever!"

"Not if your god is dead," said Will as he held the grenade to the smoldering rope, "tell your people to back away, or I'll light this and use it to destroy the image of your god!"

"Blasphemy!" shouted the high priest, "you suffer for blasphemy!"

"I'm not afraid of your god or its powers," said Will, "now tell your people to back away, or your god will be minus one statue."

"Don't listen to this whelp!" snapped the black suited demon, "he's just trying to draw you and your people away from your god."

"I'm just trying to save my friend from further anguish," said Will, "and to get the rest of my friends out of here alive."

"It's alright, Will," said Nessie, "I'm feeling much better now," she inhaled deeply, "the stench of burning rope has masked the sweet scent of blood rather effectively." With a smile, she ran through the encircling cultists, past the demons and high priest and up to the statue of Cthulhu, all in the blink of an eye.

"You people have had your lives dominated by evil for far too long!" shouted Nessie, "get ready for freedom!" she then hit the statue, breaking it into a hundred pieces.

"No!" shouted the high priest, "what you do! You destroy us!"

"No," said Nessie confidently, "I've set you free."

"Oh no, you stupid little girl," said the black suited demon, "you've just made things much, much worse."

Just then something emerged from the statue fragments, something that turned out to be a blue and green reptilian monster. It looked like a dragon with an octopus head and tentacles all over.

"What the hell is that?" shouted one of the pirates.

"That's a Cthulhu-spawn," said the black suited demon, "a true child of The Great Old One."

Just then the Cthulhu-spawn started growing at an alarming rate. Within seconds it was as big as a horse, then it was bigger than an elephant, then it was as big as a dinosaur.

"Any ideas, captain?" one of the pirates asked Jack.

"Running would be a good suggestion right about now," said Jack.

"Yes, running would be nice," said Kirjava. With that they all ran for the ledge, while the Cthulhu-span chased after them. It's huge size and slightly clumsy gate slowed it down, allowing our heroes to run out of the cave and head down the mountain.

Yet all too soon the creature burst from the cave and ran after our heroes. All the time, the Cthulhu-spawn kept growing.

"What are we going to do?" shouted Hayner as they kept running, "we can't fight that thing!"

"Yes we can!" shouted Will, "but not while running!"

"And were exactly are we going to fight that thing?" Gibbs asked.

"We're looking for a strategically sound position to make our stand, Mr. Gibbs," said Jack, "one where we can properly defend ourselves."

"The river!" shouted Nessie, "if we can get that thing into the chasm, we can trap it!"

"What are you talking about?" Olette asked.

"Just trust me!" grinned Nessie. She then turned around and ran at the Cthulhu-spawn with her sword raised. She then stabbed the creature in one of its legs. The creature roared in pain and lunged at Nessie. She easily dodged it, then stabbed it again.

"She's hitting it," said Hayner as he looked back, "but it's more mad than hurt."

"She's making it mad!" said Will, "she wants it to be so mad it can't think straight!" He then ran at the Cthulhu-spawn and stabbed it with his sword then ran out of the way. Like Nessie, Will's attacks only scratched the monster, but it was enraged that much more.

By then they were in sight of the river chasm and stopped by the rope bridge.

"What now?" Pence asked.

Nessie then ran up to them, "we get out of its way!" The creature was almost on top of them. They dodged it as it lumbered towards them. The Cthulhu-spawn was so enraged it didn't stop in time to avoid falling into the chasm. It managed to claw at the wall of the chasm and stop falling after about fifty feet.

"I was hoping it would hit the bottom," said Nessie as the monster clawed its way back up, "but this will do."

"How?" Pence asked.

"Like this!" said Nessie. She then began charging up her blue lightning, then condensing it into a sphere. By the time the creature had reached the top, Nessie had finished her spell. She then threw the blue lightning sphere at the monster and it in the eye, causing its head to explode. It fell down the chasm and didn't get up again.

"That was way too easy," said Will, "a creature like that, it shouldn't have been destroyed that easily."

"It was since I hit it in a venerable spot," said Nessie.

"That was so cool," said an impressed Olette, "Nessie, I'll do anything if you'll show me how you did that spell."

Just then the three suited demons teleported into the area, "you stupid humans!" shouted the black suited demon, "you've ruined everything!"

"We were so close to negotiating a deal with the cultists!" said the brown suited demon, "the talisman was almost in our grasp!"

"But now you've destroyed the cultists' link to Cthulhu!" said the gray suited demon, "now we're going to have to dirty ourselves in order to get the talisman from them! I hate getting dirty!"

"What kind of demon hates getting dirty?" Pence asked.

"The kind that became more civilized under the guidance of Mr. Gideon," said the black suited demon, "enough talk! You meddling brats are going to die now!"

The three demons then summoned a horde of Heartless and Nobodies

"Any last words before you die?" the brown suited demon asked.

"No," said Jack, "we're not going to die. You see, you nasties have failed to take into account one vital fact."

"And what would that be?" the black suited demon asked.

Jack grinned widely, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He grabbed the grenade from Will and the burning rope from his crewman. Jack then lit the grenade and threw it at the demons. But the gray suited demon merely flicked the grenade away. It flew up into the coconut trees and exploded.

But then three coconuts fell and hit the demons on their heads, breaking their concentration.

"Now!" shouted Will as he charged up his Ki. He ran at the demons and attacked the black suited demon. His first sword swing hit the demon on the hand that had the Nobody controlling item, destroying it.

Free of control, the Nobodies attacked the gathered Heartless, while the dark creatures fought back. It wasn't long before the two types of creatures were completely at each others dark throats.

At the same time, Hayner, Pence and Olette attacked the brown suited demon, while Jack and Nessie fought and destroyed the gray suited demon.

Will glared at the black suited demon, "you're about to realize the hard way that humans don't like being pushed around," he focused his ki into his right fist as he pulled it back, "especially by demons!"

"Go ahead and destroy me," said the demon, "it won't make any difference. Mr. Graves will have what he wants, and he always gets what he wants."

"You can tell him that when he gets to hell!" said Will. He then delivered a devastating, ki-enhanced punch to the demon's face, killing it.

"Well now," said Jack as he and everyone else saw all the Nobodies and Heartless destroy each other, "that didn't turn out exactly as planned, but then, nothing ever does. Now, shall we proceed back to the caverns and recover that treasure?"

"You are mad!" said Olette, "we just ran away from those crazy cultists, and now you want to go back and fight your way through them just to get some crummy gold."

"I don't think we have to worry about fighting our way through the cultists," said Pence as said cultists emerged from the jungle and walked towards our heroes.

But these weren't the same cultists, or were they? These people were human through and through, without any body paint or weird mutations. And they were all unarmed.

The man who was the high priest stepped forward, "brave ones, you save us all from terrible darkness. You free us from evil from stars."

"You mean that thing," said Will, "that Cthulhu-spawn, was controlling you?"

"Creature come to island many, many years ago," said the former high priest, "make ancestors into slaves, force terrible changes on us in body and heart. Make us kill others who come to island, make us spill their blood to evil one. But now we free, now we are at peace."

"Well I'm certainly glad you're liberated and are enjoying it," said Jack, "but what about all that gold?"

"He certainly has a narrow mind," said Olette, "if it's not treasure, it's rum or something else, but mostly rum and treasure."

"You forgot the rum," said Jack.

"Please," said a grinning former high priest, "take it all. We no need shiny things, so take it and leave in peace."

"We'll be more than happy to take the treasure off your hands without any trouble," said Gibbs.

"Well said, Mr. Gibbs," said Jack, "send word back to _The Pearl!_ The treasure is ours!" At that the other pirates cheered loudly.

* * *

><p>A short time later more pirates from <em>The Black Pearl <em>had rowed ashore and everyone was back in the cavern, loading the treasure into boxes and sacks.

"I'm sure this will keep you in rum for quite a while, captain," said Nessie as she easily carried several chests of gold outside, "now, about our bargain…"

"As soon as the treasure is all loaded onto the ship," said Jack, "my compass shall be at your service."

"Hey guys!" said Olette as she helped load a chest, "check this out!" She held up a 4in long gold key. Inlaid in the key were seven stones the color of the rainbow.

"Is this what the demons were looking for?" Will asked.

"We no know," said the former high priest, "demons just ask for Talisman, but we no know what Talisman is, so we just give them treasure when they gave us sacrifices, hope they find what they want."

"It certainly is a strange thing," said Kirjava, "and beautiful."

"Whoever made this must have put a lot of hard work into it," said Will, "and something else. I'm sensing a faint power in it, like it's part of a greater whole."

"A rainbow key with a strange power, you say?" Jack asked, "not really my type."

"Well if you don't want it," said Olette as she took the key from Jack, "I'll keep it."

"I never said I didn't want it, mind you," said Jack.

"Sorry," said Olette as she threaded a string through the hole in the key and tied it around her neck, "finders keepers, savvy?"

"That key may be what the enemy was after," said Nessie as they began taking the treasure back to _The Black Pearl_, "I think it'll be safer with us. Consider it our portion of the treasure."

"Point taken," said Jack. "but just remember that nothing is ever really safe, especially around pirates."

"True," said Nessie in a slightly absentminded tone as she picked up a diamond necklace that fell out of one of the treasure chests. The light caught the diamonds brightly and Nessie's brown eyes were lost in the lustrous sparkle, "oh…pretty-pretty, shiny-shiny."

"Uh, Nessie?" Pence asked, "are you alright."

"Huh?" Nessie asked. She blinked several times and shook her head a bit, as if to clear it of water, "oh, sorry, I sometimes get distracted by shiny things. It happens to vampires sometimes." With that she tossed the diamond necklace back into the treasure chest.

"Well as long as you're alright," said Olette.

A while later the treasure was properly stowed away in the ship's hold. "Alright, Jack," said Nessie, "my friends and I have kept our end of the deal."

"And right you have," said Jack as he took out his compass and handed it to Nessie with a flourish, "may this help you find he whom is most precious to you."

Nessie nodded her appreciation as she took the compass. She opened it and saw that the needle was spinning around randomly. She held the compass in both hands and closed her eyes in concentration, "I wish with all of my heart to find Jacob."

Nessie opened her eyes to see the needle suddenly stop on one direction, but it seemed to quiver, as if it wasn't exactly sure about something.

"I could be wrong," said Olette, "but…maybe the compass is trying to point up."

Nessie pointed the compass up towards the sky, with the needle finally stopping, "he's on another world. Jacob, he's out there, waiting, looking for me, I just know it!"

She handed the compass back to Jack, "thank you, Captain Jack Sparrow," she said in a serious, business-like tone, "that was very helpful. I just need one more bit of information. If your navigator could kindly provide me with our current longitude and latitude, my friends and I can be on our way."

It wasn't long before the ship's navigator provided Nessie with the longitude and latitude of _The Black Pearl_. She looked at Hayner and the others, "we've got what we need to keep going, so we can go now."

Not wanting to argue, Hayner and the others said their goodbyes to the crew of _The Black Pearl_.

"When you meet young master Sora," said Jack, "tell him that I'm looking forward to the day when I get that Keyblade of his."

"If we know Sora," said Olette, "he's not going to give that Keyblade up so easily."

"But we'll pass it along when we see him," said Pence.

Hayner then took out his cell phone and called _The Voyaging Light _in orbit above, "Vivi, beam us up."

"You got it," said Vivi. A few seconds later Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Nessie were transported off the world.

"What was interesting," said Jack.

"More interesting than Heartless, undead pirates and cursed gold, Jack?" Gibbs asked.

"Definitely more interesting," said Jack. He then looked at his compass, which was now pointing back to Tortuga, "set sail back to Tortuga, mates! We've treasure to spend, wenches to love and rum to drink!" At that the crew cheered heartily.

* * *

><p>"So now what?" Pence asked as they went to the bridge of the ship, "that compass said that Jacob was on another world."<p>

"Never underestimate the power of math," said Nessie, "I know the angle the compass was pointing and the coordinates _The Black Pearl_, so it's just a simple thought process to find out which way to go."

"Don't you need a calculator or something to figure that out?" Hayner asked, "or at least a pen and paper?"

"First of all," said Nessie, "photographic memory," she tapped her head, "second, vampires are a lot smarter than normal humans. We can hold a lot of thoughts in our heads at the same time. Now, we need to go to…" she programmed a new heading into the computer, plotting a route to a world that had a multi-holiday theme about it, "…that world; Halloween Town."

"Halloween Town?" Will asked, "sounds like fun."

"Are we sure that's where we're supposed to go to find Jacob?" Olette asked.

"We won't know if we don't go," said Hayner, "Vivi, set course for Halloween Town."

"Course set in," said Vivi as he pressed the right buttons, "estimated time to arrival, nine hours."

"We can use that time for Nessie to tell us about her magic," said Olette.

"I'm still on the basics," said Nessie, "but I remembered everything of what they told me, and a few facts that I heard about. I can certainly show you all the basics as well."

"And I can show you the basics of Ki manipulation," said Will.

"Outstanding," said Nessie as the ship jumped into hyperspace, "now, let's set sail, for love, for adventure, and for the stars!"

"I'll drink to that!" said Pence as he tossed soda cans to everyone.

**The end of chapter 6.**

Next chapter, we switch back to Sora and his group as they drop Hercules and Phil off at Olympus Coliseum, unaware that Hades has his most diabolical plan yet to unleash on our heroes. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	7. Chapter 7: A Heroes' Path

Last time found Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava setting sail on Port Royal. They teamed with Captain Jack Sparrow, who was looking for a huge treasure, that just happened to be guarded by a cult of Cthulhu worshipers. Nessie and the other agreed to help Jack in exchange for using his magic compass to find Jacob. One thing lead to another, resulting in confronting a trio of demons who were trying to get the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis from the Cthulhu cult, which they didn't actually have. Our heroes wound up fighting and destroying an Old One monster, freeing the cultists from the thrall of Cthulhu, and also destroying the demons. With the treasure secured, Nessie borrowed Jack's compass and it pointed her to where she needed to go next to find Jacob. At the same time Olette took from the treasure a single gold key. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 7: A Heroes' Path**

"We should be at Olympus Coliseum soon," said Sidney, "I suggest, Sora, that you inform our remaining guests our arrival."

"Hercules and Phil are still in the exercising room?" Aiden asked, "doesn't he get tired?"

"Well, he's Hercules," said Sora in a matter of fact tone.

"Well I think we'd better go get him and Phil," said Riku, "we're just about in orbit around their world."

Just then Hercules and Phil walked onto the bridge, "not a bad gym you've got here, Sora," said Phil, "it could use some more 'intense' training machines, and a few other challenging things, but not bad."

"And you might need some repairs," said Hercules, "I kinda went a bit overboard with some of the weight machines. I went all the way up to their limits, then I began lifting the machines themselves, then two at the same time, then three."

"You _are_ strong," said an impressed Tess.

"Strong enough to challenge Hades himself and win," said Hercules, "but I'm worried. He's been too quiet over the past few weeks."

"We haven't heard anything from him since he and Ursula tried to ruin The Tournament of Light," said Sora.

"And we haven't heard anything from Ursula either," said Kairi, "not since Maleficent dragged them off our world."

"Last we heard," said Phil, "old fame-hair's been really quiet since he got back from your world. But he's not one to be quiet for long; no, he's up to something."

"Then we'll just have to stop it, whatever Hades is planning," said Sora.

Jacob then walked onto the bridge, "have you guys seen what muscles here did the gym?"

"It isn't a pretty sight," said Lyra as she and Pan walked onto the bridge.

"Just send the repair bill to Zeus," said Phil.

"I hope he has a good credit report," said Sidney in a slightly miserable tone, "and just after Aiden fixed the ship."

"Don't get me started on that," said Aiden.

"So who's beaming down this time?" Sora asked as they headed for the transporter room.

"I think we'll all go," said Kairi, "I'm not so tired as I was after using my armor for the first time."

"Tron did say it would take some getting used to," said Riku.

"We'll have plenty of time to get used to them," said Tess, "And plenty of experience, if the rest of the worlds here are as crazy as I've seen so far."

"I can hardly wait," said Aiden, "I haven't had a chance to try out my armor yet."

"At least you have armor," said Jacob in a jealous tone, "me, I'm just an awesome shape shifter."

"And I have a compass that tells the truth," said Lyra in an equally jealous tone, "why couldn't we have gotten armor? I would have liked armor."

"Ask Tron to design suits for you," said Sidney, "I'm sure he would if you ask him nicely."

"Couldn't you design armor for them, Sidney?" Kairi asked, "you are sort of Tron's daughter."

"I just run the ship," said Sidney, "my 'father' never gave me much in terms of creativity."

"If you and Kairi, don't mind, Sora," said Roxas, "Naminé and I are going to sit this one out."

"But if you need us," said Naminé, "just give us a call and we'll pop out."

"You got it," said Kairi. With that Naminé and Roxas merged back into the hearts of Kairi and Sora.

"That has to be the most bizarre thing I've ever seen," said Jacob, "and I come from a world of vampires and shape shifters."

"I've seen stranger things," said Lyra. "I've seen people the size of insects, and met creatures who travel on wheels that grow on trees."

"She isn't lying," said Pan, "and she's told plenty of lies in her time."

"I haven't seriously lied in a long time," said Lyra, "I know the value of the truth."

"True," laughed Pan. At that Sora and the others laughed as well.

A few minutes later they were all in the transporter room and had beamed down to the Coliseum below. Immediately, Sora was impressed by the rebuilt stadium and arena.

"Wow," said Sora, "you guys really fixed up the place after that hydra attack."

"We had a good reason," said Hercules, "the games have to go on after all."

**…Olympus Coliseum...**

"What kind of games?" Aiden asked.

"The kind that are great, of course," said Phil, "games of strength, speed and endurance. Mostly it's a bunch of teams fighting each other until only one team is left to claim victory. But we've also got training programs that'll get you in the best shape of your life."

"Well we've had pretty intense training during The Tournament of Life," said Kairi.

"We ought to introduce Phil to Nodoka Sensei," said Riku.

"You know," said Sora, "if Nodoka Sensei did get that divorce from her no good husband, maybe we could try setting her up with Phil."

"I don't think that would work out," said Riku, "Nodoka Sensei might not appreciate being set up on a blind date," he looked at Phil, who was discussing his training regime with Aiden, "especially with someone from another world, but that's just my opinion."

"Just remember three things that can help move your training along without stressing too much," said Phil to Aiden, "Eat, sleep, bathe, yoga."

"That's four things," said Aiden.

"It's his thing," said Sora, "So, Herc, when are the games starting again?"

"They've been going on for a while," said Hercules, "we've got all sorts of teams competing, and not just Heartless and monsters. There's a lot of people who are trying out to be the next Heroes."

"I think we can show these wannabe heroes a thing or two," said Kairi, "if given the chance."

"I'll bet that we could win one of these tournaments," said Riku.

"Well you junior heroes are in luck," said Phil, "there's a tournament starting in an hour; The Ares Cup. The arena's much bigger than normal, and there are twenty rounds of the most intense smashing and bashing you've ever seen. The crowds love it. The winning team gets bragging rights and the biggest trophy yet; the Aries Trophy."

"A chance to test our prowess against others in a winner take all competition?" Tess asked, "count me in!"

"Same with me," said Aiden, "I'm in the mood to kick some ass."

"Count us in as well!" said Sora, while Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"If it's alright with everyone," said Jacob, "I think I'll sit and watch."

"I'll watch as well," said Lyra, while Pan nodded in agreement.

"That's fine with me," said Phil, "everyone who is fighting in the cup, just sign up and we can get started as soon as the rest of the teams get here."

"This is gonna be great," said an eager Aiden, "And this time I'm going the distance. And no idiots with cameras in sight!"

"We're all gonna do great," said Sora, "we'll win this tournament, no problem."

* * *

><p>"Oh, you've got a problem, alright," said an irate Hades as he watched our heroes through his viewing pool, "a big problem, you and Jerk-ules. Just as soon as I figure out how to get free of what that pale-eyed witch, Maleficent, did to me!"<p>

"I'm sure that the mistress of all evil had her reasons for confining you to the Underworld," said a demon that stood behind the flame-haired god. The demon was humanoid, but had large, shovel-like hands that ended in digging claws, while he wore coke bottle glasses and had a face that resembled a mole somewhat. He spoke in a high-pitch nasal voice that, combined with coke bottle glasses and a green and orange business suit, gave the demon an image of a nerd.

"I still can't believe Maleficent put a whammy on me!" snapped Hades, "me! The lord of the Underworld! A god among gods! And she's got me stuck here! Oh, she'd better look out when I finally undo her mojo! I'm gonna so burn her! I'll roast her alive and BBQ her brains!"

Hades then glared at the demon, "and you! Shovel-hands! Just what in my domain are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis," said the mole demon, "and my name is Dirk Digger, thank you very much."

"Yeah, sure," said Hades in a nonchalant tone, "whatever."

Just then Pain and Panic came in, the two minions carrying a huge book on their backs, "here's the thing you wanted, your awfulness!" said Panic.

"We nearly got caught, stealing it from Athena's own library in Athens," said Pain, "but we got it."

"Hecate's own spell book," said an eager Hades as he took the book from Pain and Panic, "Maleficent's supposed to have a copy," he opened the book and leafed through the pages and found something in the middle of the book, "and here's the spell she used to freeze Ursula in a block of ice."

"Interesting," said the demon, Dirk Digger, as he pulled out an advanced PDA and took a picture of the spell without Hades noticing, "and it has the counter spell, in case anyone wishes to free the sea witch."

"Good luck finding someone who would want that," said Hades as he flipped through more pages of the book, while Dirk Digger took more pictures behind his back, before finding the page he wanted, "and here's what I want," he said as he grinned eagerly, "this is what that so called mistress of all evil used to keep me from leaving The Underworld!"

"So now you can get out again, boss?" Panic asked.

Hades read the book, then frowned when he came to one passage, "I can, but not yet. According to this, I need five…keys, in order to break the spell."

"Keys as in Keyblades?" Dirk Digger asked as he looked at the image of our heroes getting ready for the Ares Cup.

"Keyblades!" Hades asked. He then grinned wickedly, "yeah…yeah! That could work! I got that schmuck Sora to unlock the Underdome, so how hot would it be if he and his pathetic pals were to set me free!"

"Uh, there's one thing wrong with that, boss," said Pain, "how are you gonna get the brats down here?"

"And how are you gonna get them to undo Maleficent's mojo?" Panic asked.

"Hmmm," said Hades in a thoughtful tone, "that would be a problem," he began pacing, "assuming I do get them down here, they'll have that darn Olympus Stone with them, so the draining effects of The Underworld won't leave them weak as Cerberus puppies."

Hades then saw said 3-headed dog chewing on a cow-sized strip of jerky, "that's right, big guy, those creeps who made you look bad are gonna come down here soon, so you can make then your new chew toys." At that Cerberus wagged his tail and growled in vicious anticipation.

"But how are you going to defeat them?" Dirk Digger asked, "and how are you going to bring them here in the first place?"

At that Hades had a vicious idea, "I'll just negate the power of the Olympus Stone." Hades then went to the spell book, "There's got to be a spell here that can turn off a magical item." Hades then looked at Dirk Digger, "hey, demon, you've been around time and space for a while."

"That's right," said Dirk Digger as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose, "I have been to many universes. Mr. Graves has had me on a lot of assignments."

"Then you've got some weight with your boss," said Hades, "get your boss to bring in some of your friends to keep the brats busy while I get ready to destroy them."

"But how are you gonna get the brats down here, boss?" Pain asked.

"I'll get Meg to lure them down here," said Hades in a nonchalant tone as he summoned an image of Meg in his hand, "I've still got a string or two wrapped around her that she and muscle-boy don't know about." he then found the spell he wanted, "bingo! Those brats are so fried!"

* * *

><p>The first ten rounds of the Ares Cup were like other tournaments, mainly destroying all the enemy Heartless without getting killed.<p>

"How's this for a tournament?" an eager Riku after he and the others powered their way through the a round involving a horde of shadows, "this is too easy!"

"No, we're just really strong," said Sora as he and the others destroyed a horde of Neo Shadows, Invisibles and Dark Balls.

"All of our adventures have given us the power to do anything," said Kairi as she and the others destroyed two Behemoths.

But when they were getting ready for the second half of the tournament, Phil explained a new rule, "The next three matches are is a score rounds. You've got five minutes to kill as many baddies as you can, each."

"So we all have to get a high score," said Sora, "okay."

"But there's a hitch," said Phil, "in round 11 you've got to destroy at least 100 Heartless, in round 12, 300, and in round 13, 500. If any of you can't get that score in any of the rounds, that fighter is out of the tournament, no second chances."

"A real challenge," said an eager Tess, "no problem."

As our heroes fought their way through seemingly never ending hordes of Heartless, each of them trying to get the highest score they could in the time limit, they were being watched by Soldiers and Air Soldiers. Just as Sora and the others all finished the first time limit, all of them making high scores, Meg sat next to Hercules.

"So, wonder boy," said Meg, "how was your trip to another world?"

"It was good," said Hercules as the second timed round started. Sora and the others fought their way through a horde of Mega Shadows, "there's a lot out there to see and learn."

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," said Meg in a disappointed time, "but you'd think you'd miss me."

"Of course I missed you," said Hercules as he held her hand, "I thought about you all the time. But there's a lot of stuff going on out there that I had to help with."

"Yeah, I know," said Meg, "you have to be the hero you are. But as long as you know what you're doing," she watched Sora and the others fight their way to the second timed round, "and you've got some good friends to keep you safe." She then looked at Jacob, Lyra and Pan, who were sitting on the other side of the stadium, "so, what's with these guys?"

"It's the strangest thing," said Hercules, "they fell out of the sky on Radiant Garden." He spent the rest of the round telling Meg an abbreviated version of everything that's happened so far.

A few minutes later the round ended. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess all scored high enough to go to the third scored round, but Donald and Goofy were a few points off.

"Aw darn it!" said an irate Donald.

"Shucks," said a disappointed Goofy.

"Hey, you guys did great," said Sora, "and there'll always be another tournament."

"But in the meantime," said a smug Aiden, "you guys can watch us plow our way to sweet, sweet victory!"

Unfortunately for Aiden, he was one Heartless short of winning the round, so he was also disqualified.

"Oh for the love of crap!" snapped Aiden as he stomped his way up to the seats, where Goofy and Donald were sitting with Jacob and Lyra, "why can't I win these things!"

"You just have that kind of luck," said Lyra as she read her Alethiometer, "some things you just can't succeeded."

"Nothing's easy in life," said Jacob, "otherwise things would be too boring."

"Okay then," said Phil to Sora, Riku, Kairi and Tess, "in round 14 to 16, things are different again. There's a limit to how many times you take damage. First round, your eliminated if you get hit fifteen times. Second round, you're out of if you're hit ten times, and third round, five hits and you're done."

"Easy as boysenberry pie!" said an eager Tess. Unfortunately for her, she was disqualified after taking five hits in the sixteenth round.

"Mother puss bucket!" Tess swore as she stomped up to sit with Aiden, Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra and Pan. "Hey, Lyra, why didn't you use that compass of yours to see if I would have won or not?"

"The Alethiometer doesn't work that way," said Lyra, "it can't predict the future, only what happened before and what's happening now."

"It does give hints about what can happen," said Pan, "but not very often."

Phil then looked at Sora, Riku and Kairi, "okay, you three made it this far. But here's where things get hard."

"They haven't been hard up till now?" Kairi asked.

"It's been easy so far," said Phil, "but not any more. Round 17 to 19 are timed rounds again, with 17 lasting three minutes, 18 lasting five minutes and 19 lasting seven minutes."

"Doesn't sound hard to me," said Riku.

"Yeah, where's the challenge, Phil?" Sora asked daringly.

"The challenge is no recovery items at all," said Phil, "and no healing spells. All other forms of magic are okay, but nothing that can get your hit points back up. Any use of such items or spells will get you thrown out of the tournament faster than Hermes on roller skates."

"Oh," said a now unsure Sora, Riku and Kairi.

"Now things are interesting," said Aiden, "we've been relying on healing items and spells for a while now, so it'll be hard not for Sora, Riku and Kairi to use them."

"I've got a feeling that they're strong enough to last the three rounds without being defeated," said Tess.

As it turned out, Sora, Riku and Kairi made it through the three grueling rounds without using a single Potion or healing spell, but the experience left them feeling like they had been through a meat grinder.

"Now can we use healing stuff?" Sora asked as he, Riku and Kairi struggled to get their breath back.

"Be my guest," said Phil, "you're gonna need all of your strength for the final round. You're gonna face the Rock Titan."

"Oh, okay," said an eager Sora, while he and Riku were healed by Kairi.

"What's the deal with the Rock Titan?" Kairi asked.

"If it's got the word 'titan' in it," said Riku, "then it's going to be one of those things."

"Relax, guys," said Sora, "the Rock Titan's a pushover. Just hit it in the legs until it falls down, then hit it in the heads until it gives up."

"Oh, okay," said Kairi, "we should have this tournament won in no time."

"There's one more thing," said Phil, "The Ice Titan will be there as well."

"Oh," said Sora in a deflated tone, "that's going to make things a lot harder."

"How hard could it be?" Riku asked.

"Very hard," said Sora. He then told Riku and Kairi just how hard it was for him to defeat the Ice Titan the last time.

But then something happened that put all thoughts of the tournament out of the minds of our heroes.

Suddenly, Meg stood up, a distant look in her eyes as she walked out of the stadium. "Meg?" a confused Hercules asked, "what's wrong? Meg? Meg!"

She didn't answer Hercules as she through the Vestibule and out to the Coliseum Gates.

"What's going on with her?" Sora asked as he and the others followed Meg.

"Something's wrong," said a frantic Hercules, "something's very wrong."

"A dark force has taken control of her mind," said Lyra as she read her Alethiometer, "something…terrible."

"Hades!" said Sora, "it has to be him, I know it!"

By then Meg had reached the entrance to the Underworld and walked through without hesitation.

"This has trap written all over it!" said Tess as our heroes stopped at the entrance, "I don't need to who Hades is to know that he's put the whammy on Meg to use her as bait."

"Well if we know if it's a trap," said Jacob, "then we can work around it." he then took off his clothes, "and I can sniff out a trap before they spring it." He then morphed into his wolf form.

"That never gets old with me," said Aiden, "it's creepy, but cool." he then rubbed his wrists, "alright, let's do this!"

"We can't go yet," said Hercules, "without the Olympus Stone, none of our strength will matter in the Underworld."

"He's right," said Sora, "we'll be all but powerless down there. But I don't know where it is."

"It's a good thing you gave it back to me before you went to finish Organization XIII," said Phil as he handed the Olympus Stone to Sora.

"We'll be back before you know it, Phil," said Sora as he pocketed the Olympus Stone, "Riku, Kairi and I have a pair of Titans to beat."

"Lucky us," said Kairi.

"Okay," said Aiden as he rubbed his wrists again, "take 2: Alright! Let's do this!"

With that Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra, Pan and Hercules ran into The Underworld.

* * *

><p>"That's really cool that you used a teleportation spell to bring the girl here the second she stepped into The Underworld," said Dirk Digger as Pain and Panic chained Meg to a large obelisk.<p>

"The second that Meg stepped into my domain," said Hades, "she was subject to my rules. And the second I negate that dumb Olympus Stone, Sora and those no-good do-gooders will be playing by my rules as well. All we got to do is wait for them to get here, then the trap will crush them alive!"

"Uh, boss," said Panic, "there's something you need to know."

"We've got a problem," said Panic.

"It can wait," said Hades, "first thing's first, get rid of the brats."

* * *

><p>"He has Meg chained up in his inner sanctum," said Lyra as she read the Alethiometer as our heroes ran through the Cave of the Dead entrance.<p>

"Then it's just a downhill run to Hades' room," said Hercules as our heroes fought through the first wave of Heartless. "Part of it is uphill, but that area isn't hard at all."

"Any idea of what Hades is planning?" Sora asked.

"He has a piece of dark magic that will take away our powers," said Lyra, "and leave us helpless."

"Believe me," said Hercules as he ripped a Large Body in half, then smashed a Neo Shadow, "you don't want to be caught down here without your strength."

"So what can we do if Hades takes away our powers?" Tess asked as she stabbed Rabid Dog, then dueled and destroyed a Lance Soldier.

"Well first of all," said Aiden as he swatted a Hook Bat out of the air, "I don't think flames for hair knows that we know his plan. Come to think of it," he destroyed two more Hook Bats, then stabbed a Rabid Dog, "I doubt that any of the baddies know about that gold compass of Lyra's."

"And we'd better make sure that the enemy doesn't know about it," said Kairi, "it could be the edge that we need to finally beat Maleficent once and for all."

"Can we beat her at all?" Riku asked as he destroyed a group of Dusks, then swatted Minute Bomb into the path of a Morning Star. The exploding Heartless detonated, launching the spiked Heartless into the air, where Jacob snapped it out of the air with his huge teeth and ripped it apart, while Donald and Goofy finished off the last of the enemies in the area.

They then moved into the winding tunnel of the Cave of the Dead passage, where more Heartless and Nobodies waited for them.

"Let's just focus on saving Meg," said Hercules, "for now. If Hades' has hurt her in any way, I'll crush the life out of that immortal jerk!"

"Save a piece for me," said Sora, "He's hurt a lot of people, so it's time he got what was coming to him!"

* * *

><p>"As soon as Hercules gets here," said an irate Meg, "he's gonna skin you alive!"<p>

"And tan my hide and stuff it," said a bored Hades, "blah blah blah. But first he's got to get here, and he's in for one supreme surprise."

"Boss," said Pain, "you really need to hear this."

"It's important," said Panic.

"Later!" said Hades as he prepared to negate the Olympus Stone.

"I'll listen if there's a problem," said Dirk Digger. Pain and Panic then told the demon what they needed to tell.

"Oh," said a nervous Dirk Digger, "that is serious," he looked at Hades, "I really think you should listen to your minions."

"I don't have time to listen!" snapped Hades, "I've got losers to destroy and revenge to enjoy! So just go look for that stupid talisman of yours, you dateless wonder of a demon!"

"I've been on plenty of dates, for your information," said Dirk Digger, "but if you don't want my help, then yes, I will go look for the talisman," he then looked at Pain and Panic, "and I'll borrow your minions, if you don't mind."

"You all have fun," said Hades as he added the final element to the curse that will negate the Olympus Stone.

"We should have told him," said Panic as he, Pain and Dirk Digger headed to a different part of the Underworld, "about that little girl with that weird compass that can answer questions."

"Villains like Hades don't like to be told what to do," said Dirk Digger, "the only thing we can do is get out of his way. But he'll be alright. He's a god, so he'll be alright."

"Oh he'll be alright," said Pain, "I'm more worried about what he'll do to us when the Heroes beat him?"

"We'd be better off out of his way," said Dirk Digger as he pressed the Send button on his PDA, transmitting the pictures of the spell book off world, "I've got part of what Mr. Graves sent me here for, and now to look for the other thing; the talisman."

* * *

><p>Sora and the others had just passed through the inner chamber of the Cave of the Dead and were now fighting their way up the Valley of the Dead.<p>

"Hades is gonna take away our powers the second we get to his room," said Sora as he and Kairi destroyed a pair of Dusks, "and we still don't have a plan!"

"The only thing I've got is that we all rush him at once," said Kairi, "Hades may be a god, but he's just one, and we're many."

"Yeah, but we could all get hurt if we try to rush him," said Riku.

"Not if someone gets to him before he can attack," said Tess as she looked at Jacob, "if our furry friend can tackle Hades before he can put the whammy on us, then we're in the clear."

"Can you do that?" Sora asked Jacob, "can you attack Hades before he zaps us?"

Jacob nodded and barked in affirmation.

"Then let's take that egotistic god down!" said Aiden. They then reached the doors to Hades' Chamber and busted in. They all then saw Meg chained to the obelisk.

"Meg!" shouted a frantic Hercules.

"Herc! No!" shouted Meg, "it's a trap!"

"And it is!" said Hades as he activated the curse.

"Jacob!" shouted Sora as he, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Donald, Goofy and Hercules felt their powers being drained, "get him!"

Jacob ran at Hades, intending to tackle and rip the flame-haired god apart, but the curse zapped Jacob as well. He collapsed in mid leap and fell to the ground weak as a puppy.

At that Hades laughed triumphantly, "yes! I love it when a plan comes to fruition!"

"You flaming bastard!' shouted Tess. She tried to go invisible and attack Hades from behind, but at the most she managed to become transparent.

"This sucks worse than anything has ever sucked before," said an irate Aiden as he tried to transmute the air around Hades into carbon monoxide, indenting to smother the evil god, but the alchemy failed.

"I can barely get by Keyblade up," said an exhausted Kairi.

"Me to," said Sora.

"That's the idea," said a viciously smiling Hades, "and now you're mine, all of you."

"I don't belong to you, Hades!" said Hercules as he faced the evil god, "I may only have a mortal's power, but I can still fight better than a mortal!" he ran at Hades, who then blasted him with a fireball.

"There's nothing more pathetic than a fallen hero," said Hercules, "I'd stay down, Jerk-ulese, if you know what's good for you." He then glared at Sora and the others, "the same goes for all of you. If you want to live, you'd better put your toys away and do as I say."

"Looks like we've got no choice," said Sora. With that he, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess vanished their Keyblades, while Donald and Goody put their weapons away as well.

"There now," said Hades, "let's talk turkey. I'm not going to destroy you, yet. There's something I want you Keyblade brats to do for me. Do it and I'll let you all walk away," he glared down at Jacob, "and your mutt as well."

Jacob growled defiantly at Hades as he tried to get up, but barely had enough strength to crawl over to Sora and the others.

"Whatever you want, Hades," said Riku, "we won't do it!"

"But you haven't even heard what it is I want," said Hades, "how can you say now if you don't know?"

"They can say no," said Lyra as she looked up from her Alethiometer, "because if they do what you want, you'll kill us all anyway," she looked at Sora and the others, "he's got a spell on him that's keeping him here. He can't leave the Underworld, but your Keyblades can set him free."

"What?" Sora asked, "how did you get trapped here, Hades?"

"I'll bet Maleficent did it when he messed up at The Tournament of Light," said Kairi.

"It'd be better for you brats if you didn't bring up that fiasco," said an irate Hades. He then glared at Lyra, "and how did you know that, little girl? And why aren't you powerless like the other brats?"

"That's a good question," said Pan, "Lyra, I don't feel weak at all."

"Neither do I," said Lyra. She looked at her Alethiometer, "oh, it's because I'm from another world, a world that's greatly different than that of Sora's and Jacob's, that I'm immune to some of the magic of this world."

"What!" exclaimed Hades as he turned red with anger, "that spell I used completely negated the Olympus Stone!" he stomped towards Lyra, who defiantly stood her ground, "even the shape shifting mutt wasn't immune!"

At that Jacob growled, as if saying that he wasn't a mutt.

"So how is it," said Hades to Lyra, "that a stupid little girl and her talking ferret aren't affected by my curse? And don't tell me it's because you're from another world," he looked at the Alethiometer, "and what is that thing anyway?"

"It's a truth mirror," said an eagerly smiling Lyra as she held up the Alethiometer, "only someone very, very special from my world can use it, someone very powerful," she then winked at Sora, and then at Jacob, "someone who can defeat a god."

"What!" snapped Hades, "you're just a stupid human! Ain't no way you're stronger than me!"

"Well I am," said Lyra in an eager tone, "I've fought and killed Gobblers and Clift Ghasts. I've outwrestled Armored Bears and vanquished Specters. I've journeyed to the real land of the dead and won over the hearts of an entire race of harpies. I've destroyed angels and demons alike, and I eat Dust for breakfast."

"Uh…you've lost me, kid," said a confused Hades.

"Alright," said Lyra, "I didn't tell the whole truth on that story."

"But we have been through a lot together," said Pan, "and we're not afraid of a false god like you."

"What?" Hades asked in a stunned tone. It was as if what Pan just said had really struck a nerve with him, "what did you call me?"

"I said you are a false god!" snapped Pan, "And I'm no ferret."

"Pan's right!" said Lyra, "I've seen a real god in the flesh, and you don't compare."

"You dare make fun of me!" raged Hades as he burned white hot, "I'll melt you both into mud!"

"Do your worst!" said Lyra, "I've experienced the worst pain a person can ever feel! I had my daemon ripped away from me. I had to give up my soul, but I survived the ordeal; I got Pan back, and that makes me stronger than a pretender god like you!"

"It's true," said Pan, "when Lyra had to go into the real land of the dead, I had to stay behind, so we were separated. We both felt like we were dead, worse than dead, but we grew stronger from the experience, in more ways than one," he winked at Sora and Jacob, "and we're not afraid of anything."

_:What are they trying to do?: _Kairi asked Sora, _:that immortal maniac is going to incinerate Lyra and Pan if they keep this up.:_

_:I think they're stalling for time,:_ said Sora, _:but what for? Hade's curse has negated the Olympus Stone, and we're powerless without it.:_

_:Then how come we're able to still use telepathy?:_ Aiden asked.

_:Maybe the spell Hades used isn't as powerful as he things,: _said Riku.

_:Well of course it's not that strong,: _said Tess, _:Cause I can hear you all.:_

_:When did you get your telepathy?:_ a surprised Aiden asked.

_:We'll talk later,_: said Tess, :_right now we need to figure out how to keep our friends from being roasted and toasted.:_

By now Lyra and Pan had gotten Hades so riled up, he was shaking with fury. But instead of tossing fireballs about in rage, he began to calm down, "I don't have to take any crap from you or your talking animal, little girl."

"I'm not an animal," said Pan, "I'm a daemon. And the name is Pantalaimon."

"And I'm Lyra Silvertongue," said Lyra, "so go ahead and do your worst."

"Oh I'll do my worst," said Hades, "I'll do my very worst," he then summoned a ring of flames around Meg, "hey, Keyblade brats! I'm gonna give you one chance. Either use those Keyblades of yours to undo Maleficent's whammy, or Meg here gets to know what heat stroke is all about."

"Don't do it!" said Meg, "that whammy is the only thing keeping Hades from the rest of the worlds! You can't let him out!"

"Oh but they can," said Hades as he grinned viciously, "because your boyfriend is going to make then," he glared at Hercules, "so what's it going to be, boy wonder?"

Sora knew that Hercules was being put in an impossible situation, one that would force him to make only one choice, "do it, Sora," he said in a defeated tone, "free Hades. I can't live without Meg. I…I love her."

"And I love you, Hercules," said Meg, "but seriously, you can't just throw away everything like this. If Hades is on the lose again…"

"I know what will happen," said Hercules, "but keeping him locked up at the cost of losing you, that's something even a hero can't choose to do. I'm sure Phil's going to hate me for this, but I can't give you up, Meg."

"You dummy," said a smiling and crying Meg, "you wonderful dummy."

"Oh cry me a river," said an impatient Hades.

Sora then noticed that Jacob was standing more surely, as if the giant wolf had gotten his strength back. Jacob then winked at Sora, and Sora nodded back.

"It's alright, Hercules," said Sora, "we'll do it."

"Things were a little too quiet among the worlds without Hades anyway," said Riku.

"We'll undo Maleficent's curse if Hades tells us what to do," said Kairi.

"But first we want to know how he knows what to do," said Aiden, "turnabout is fair play after all."

"Surely someone as powerful as a god can afford to answer a question," said Tess.

"Alright," said Hades as he lowered the flames around Meg, still keeping a small ring of fire around her, "I'll tell you what you want to know. After that purple idiot Ursula messed things up at the tournament on your world, Maleficent dragged us to her pad and put the whammy on us. Ursula's trapped in a block of ice, and yours truly was tapped in his own home."

"How did that happen?" Sora asked, stalling for time, "Maleficent may be the mistress of all evil, but you're a god for crying out loud?"

"Maleficent has access to more dark magic than anyone else could know," said Lyra as she looked at the Alethiometer, "curses and spells of the worst kind. She has magic that could even bend a false god to her will."

"Hey! I'm the one telling the story here!" snapped Hades. He then looked at Sora, "but she's right. Maleficent's got some serious mojo about her. I couldn't stop her from locking me up here, and I'm the Lord of the Underworld for crying out loud.

"But I found out how she did it. You see, Maleficent has memorized a spell book that was written by Hecate, the goddess of dark magic. There's only a handful of copies of Hecate's book in all of existence," he then pointed to said copy of said spell book, "and I just got one of them."

"And you used that book to find out how to free yourself," said Riku, "and to put the whammy on us."

"That's right," said Hades, "now, are you gonna unlock me like a Keyhole? Or am I gonna have to BBQ Meg? And then feed her to Cerberus?" Cerberus then poked its heads into the room, drooling in anticipation of the feast to come.

"Not to sound like I'm afraid," said a nervous Meg, "but I'd rather not be cooked and eaten by a 3 headed dog that seriously needs to brush its teeth."

"Actually," said Kairi, "we'd rather not."

"What?" Hades asked.

"I said we'd rather not," said Kairi.

"I'd never thought I'd live to see the day that I would be glad of anything Maleficent did," said Riku, "but locking you up in your own realm was the best thing Maleficent could ever have done. I'd be an insult to her to ruin the one decent thing she's ever done for the universe."

"And I'd rather not be rude to someone I've never met," said Tess.

"Likewise," said Aiden, "though I have met Maleficent, but I'd rather not see her again."

"Oh but you will," said Dirk Digger as he, Pain and Panic, walked in. The nerd demon had in his hands a large gold, jeweled encrusted key, much like the one Sora and the others found in The Land of Dragons. "Maleficent wants you, boy, you and Kairi." He looked at Hades, "is it alright if I take them with me to New Hollow Bastion after you're done with them?"

"As long as they undo the whammy on me," said Hades, "I need five Keyblades to break the spell."

"I've seen you before, demon," said Lyra to Dirk Digger, "you were on my world, trying to find that talisman that your master, Gideon, wants so desperately. And is that key the talisman?"

"Nice to see you again," said Dirk Digger, "and no," he held up the key, "it isn't, but it's a cool thing to have."

"It is cool," said Kairi as she held up the key our heroes found.

"Wait," said a confused Dirk Digger, "what's that?"

"I think it's the same as the one you have," said Kairi. She walked over to the demon and they compared keys, "it's almost the same, but the jewels are arranged differently on each."

"What do they mean?" Aiden asked as he walked over and looked at the keys, "they're the same to me."

"No, they're not," said Kairi as she held up her Key, "you see, this key has the ruby at the top, but the other one has the amber at the top."

"She's right," said Dirk Digger, "but what does it mean? This isn't what Mr. Graves said for me to look for."

"Then what is it?" Kairi asked, "what is this Talisman that your boss wants so badly?"

"He said I'd know it when I saw it," said Dirk Digger, "that's what he told all of us."

"Well that's not fair," said Aiden, "how are you expected to find this talisman if you don't know what it looks like?"

"I know, it's totally unfair," said Dirk Digger.

"Hey!" snapped Hades, "aren't you suppose to grab those two for your boss?"

Dirk Digger then looked at Kairi and Aiden, blinking in surprise as he realized that he had made a mistake, "you're right!" he glared at Kairi and Aiden, "you two are coming with me!"

Just then Naminé popped out of Kairi, "I don't think so, jerk!" she then kicked the demon in the crotch.

"Oh, my bits and pieces!" exclaimed Dirk Digger as he collapsed to the ground, clutching his wedding tackle in agony.

At the same time Jacob ran at Hades and tackled the dark god, biting Hades on the wrist.

"Get your filthy paws off of me, you mutt!" snapped Hades as he struggled to free his arm from Jacob's jaws. Hades wasn't seriously hurt, but Jacob wasn't letting go.

"The book!" said Lyra to Sora and the others, "use it to undo the spell on you."

"Why not just destroy the book?" Riku asked as our heroes reached said spell book, "if it's evil, then let's get rid of it!"

"I'll do it," said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade. Even though the Olympus Stone was still negated, Sora had enough power to use a spell. He aimed and shot a fireball at the spell book, but the fireball vanished before it touched the book.

"It's protected by magic," said Lyra.

"Then we'll just have to find the counter spell," said Aiden as he opened the book. Our heroes then saw page after page of writing in a language they couldn't understand.

"Great, a book we can't read," said Tess, "what's next?"

Just then Dirk Digger got back up, an enraged look on his face, "you brats have made me very angry, very angry indeed!" as he spoke, his face elongated and grew razor sharp fangs, while his hands grew even larger and sprouted claws and spikes and a spiked tail grew out of his back.

"Oh great," said Aiden.

Just then Roxas appeared out of Sora, "I've got this guy!" he summoned his Keyblades, "let's go, demon!"

"Gladly!" said Dirk Digger. He and Roxas rushed at each other. He slashed at Roxas with his claws, teeth and spikes, which Roxas countered with his Keyblades.

"How come he's not affected by the spell?" Aiden asked.

"He's a Nobody," said Lyra.

"That makes a difference," said Kairi.

"He's got the demon occupied," said Naminé.

"And Jacob's having fun with Hades," said Pan. True enough, Jacob had Hades up against the wall.

"I told you to get away from me, you stupid dog!" spat Hades as he threw fireball after fireball at Jacob, but Jacob was too fast for the flames to hit him.

"Let me look at the book," said Naminé, "I think I can make sense of the spells."

"Help yourself," said Aiden as he pushed the book to Naminé. She began leafing through the pages, searching for the counter spell.

"Well?" Kairi asked after about 30 seconds.

"Give me a chance to find it," said Namine, "these things aren't always so easy to find."

"Can't you just look at the index?" Sora asked, "or the first page? There's usually a table of contents."

"This isn't a school book, Sora," said Riku, "if what Hades said about it is true, then a goddess wrote it as her personal spell book. She wouldn't have made it easy for someone else to read it by putting in a table of contents."

"Oh look," said Naminé as she looked at the first page, "there is a table of contents. The counter spells are all the way in the back," she flipped to the back pages of the book, "now, to find the right counter spell, otherwise it won't work."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Tess asked, "if you use the wrong counter spell?"

"Hopefully, nothing," said Naminé, "but at the worst, it's best not to think about it."

"That bad?" Tess asked.

"That bad," said Naminé, "wait…I think I've found the right counter spell. Okay, whoever has the Olympus Stone, hold it out."

Sora held up the Olympus Stone, while Naminé chanted the spell. After a few seconds, the stone flashed, and our heroes immediately felt stronger.

"Alright!" said Sora, "we got our powers back!"

"And just in time!" said Kairi as Hades threw Jacob off of him. Jacob landed on his paws several paces away, then ran back at Hades, who teleported out of the way.

"That does it!" said a very angry Hades, "I've had it with you all! Cerberus! Get in here, now!"

The giant, three-headed dog then bounded into the room, which had magically enlarged to allow Cerberus' vast bulk and still have our heroes move around comfortably.

"That is one mean-looking dog," said a nervous Aiden.

"I hope he's housebroken," said Kairi.

Jacob then growled at Cerberus, who then growled back. The two of them exchanged growled for a while, as if they were having a conversation.

"What are they saying, Pan?" Lyra asked.

"Jacob's asking Cerberus why he's working for Hades," said Pan, "and Cerberus says it's his purpose to serve the god of the Underworld. Jacob said that he thought that Cerberus was supposed to just guard the entrance to the Underworld, not do Hades' dirty work. Cerberus says it's all he knows, doing Hades' dirty work."

"Well that's just sad," said Tess, "spending your whole life doing what a jerk of a god tells you what to do," she boldly walked up to Cerberus, mastering her fear of the massive dog with three heads, "you must be so miserable, no wonder you've done such mean things," she stopped by Cerberus' right forepaw, "I'll bet you're not so mean after all, not deep down inside," she stroked the fir of the 3 headed dog and Cerberus was so surprised that someone touched him without any violence behind it, he didn't attack.

"That's right," said Tess in a kind tone as she continued to stroke the fur of Cerberus' paw, "you're not a monster, I've seen enough real monsters to know one that's being made to be a monster to know the difference. You just need someone to be nice to you for a change, instead of being made to obey this immortal jerk."

"What in my domain are you doing, brat!" snapped Hades, "Cerberus is my dog! Mine! And he'll do whatever I want him to do!"

"Oh really?" Hercules asked in a daring tone as he freed Meg from the obelisk, "I think things are about to change around here, Hades."

By now Cerberus had begun to trust Tess and had laid down on the ground, allowing her to pet one of his heads.

"That's right," said a smiling Tess as she scratched behind the ears of the middle head, "you're not a bad dog, you just have a rotten master. You're a very good dog who just needs some love."

By now Cerberus was panting happily and wagging his tail eagerly.

"Get away from my monster!" snapped a now white-hot Hades. He charged up a massive fireball, intending to incinerate Tess and Cerberus, "that's my dog, and if I can't have it, no one can!"

But then Tess glared defiantly at Hades as she used her power to make not only herself invisible, but Cerberus as well.

This caused Hades to completely lose focus. His fireball vanished and his skin and hair turned back to blue. "What…? What…!"

"Oh, this isn't good," said Panic, "maybe we should skedaddle."

"That's the smartest thing I've heard all day," said Pain. With that the two minions ran for it.

Tess and Cerberus then reappeared behind Hades, "your days of animal cruelty are over, fire brains!" snapped Tess. Cerberus then grabbed Hades with his middle head.

"What are you doing, you pathetic excuse for a monster!" snapped Hades as Cerberus carried the dark god over to the edge of the well of souls, "put me down! I said put me down!"

"You heard him," said Hercules, "put him down."

Hades then realized that Cerberus was about to drop him into the soul well, "wait! Don't put me down! Don't put me…" Cerberus then dropped Hades, "…dooooowwwwwwwwnnnn!" with a distant splash, Hades was gone, for now.

"How long do you think it'll take him to get out of there again?" Sora asked.

"Not long enough," said Hercules, "he'll be back someday."

"I think we have a more immediate problem!" said Aiden. Just then Dirk Digger threw Roxas towards the wall. He hit the wall hard and fell to the ground.

"Oww." said Roxas as he tried to get back up, but Dirk Digger moved too quickly for him to react. The mole-like demon then backhanded Roxas into the wall again.

Our heroes then all attacked the demon, but Dirk Digger was much too fast for them, moving so quickly he was a blur.

"How can he be so fast?" an exasperated Aiden asked after Dirk Digger knocked him down again.

"Aren't moles supposed to be slow or something?" Tess asked.

"I'm not a mole," said Dirk Digger, "I'm unstoppable! And don't even ask me what my secret is, 'cause I'm not talking!"

"It's the ground!" said Lyra as she read the Alethiometer, "he draws power from the ground!"

"Of course!" said Hercules as realization struck, "like Antaeus! Sora! We've got to separate the demon from the ground!"

"Easier said than done!" said Sora as he tried to blast Dirk Digger with an Aero spell, but kept missing, "he's too fast!"

"Not even Jacob can catch him!" said Riku as Jacob tried to bite Dirk Digger, but the demon dodged Jacob's snapping teeth and backhanded him to the ground.

"Then it's a good thing I know what I'm doing!" said Aiden. He then transmuted the ground in front of Dirk Digger into a deep water trap, but the demon ran around the newly formed hole and punched Aiden.

"You can't beat me!" said Dirk Digger, "and you're coming with me back to New Hollow Bastion!"

"No I'm not!" said Aiden as he got up. He then held up the yellow watch Tron made for him, "and it's about time I got to use this!" he pressed the center button and was surrounded by a yellow light. When the light cleared, he was wearing yellow armor that had high ear extensions on the helmet.

"Let's go!" shouted Aiden as he rushed at Dirk Digger. He was much faster than before and was able to keep up with the mole-like demon, but the demon wasn't showing any signs of relenting as his shovel-like hands blocked all of Aiden's attacks.

"You can wear as much armor as you like, brat!" snapped Dirk Digger, "you can't beat me!"

"That's where you're wrong, jerk!" snapped Aiden. He then jumped back and aimed his Keyblade at the ground, sending a pulse of Alchemic energy into the ground around the demon.

Dirk Digger tried to get out of the way, but the ground around him was transmuted into glass spikes. One of the spikes pierced the demon's leg, trapping him. Aiden then transmuted the ceiling above the demon into another glass spike that reached down and completely impaled the demon through.

"I'd say he's had it," said Aiden as he powered his armor down. He then sighed with exhaustion, "and I'm about done as well."

"Yeah," said Riku, "the armor takes a while to get used to."

"What do you want to do with this jerk?" Tess asked as she pointed at the impaled Dirk Digger.

Jacob then growled, which Pan translated as, "He wants to rip the demon's head off."

"Sounds good to me," said Kairi, "Maleficent's just going to have to be disappointed when Aiden and I aren't brought to her."

At that Dirk Digger coughed up black blood as it laughed, "you stupid human!" he the pulled out his PDA and used it to take Kairi's picture, "Maleficent only wants the alchemist brat so she can use his brain to find the other Princess of Heart. It's Mr. Graves who wants Kairi."

"Why?" Sora asked, "why does your boss want Kairi so much?"

"Mr. Graves has his reasons," said Dirk Digger as he pushed the Send button on his PDA, transmitting Kairi's picture out, "but he will have Kairi. Mr. Graves always gets what he wants."

"Well he's just going to have to be disappointed," said Kairi as she charged up a demon vanquishing spell, "and you, no coming back in 100 years for you!"

"No!" shouted Dirk Digger, "not oblivion! Don't sent me into the void!"

"You should have thought of that before threatening me and my friends!" shouted Kairi. She then threw the vanquishing spell at Dirk Digger. The impaled mole demon then vanished in a flash of white light, while the gold key the demon had fell to the ground.

"I'm starting to get worried here," said Kairi, while Aiden picked up the gold key, "this Gideon guy, what's his problem? What did I ever do to him?"

"Whatever his reason," said Sora, "I'm not going to let him hurt you, ever."

"And if he tries anything else to get you," said Riku, "we'll stop him."

"And we'll make him regret it," said Tess as she pulled out one of the razors her father used in their old barber shop on Metamore, "dearly."

Just then Hades teleported back into the room, "you brats," he said through gritted teeth, "you are seriously burning me up!" He then blasted our heroes with double flamethrower attacks.

Riku blocked the twin streams of fire with his Dark Shield, then countered with a Dark Aura blast. But then Hades began throwing fireballs and flamethrower attacks left and right

"I think we should consider the possibility of running!" said Kairi as she and Sora ducked a flamethrower attack.

"That's probably a good idea!" said Aiden as he got his second wind. He then transmuted the area around Hades into concrete, trapping the firey god. But the gray stone began to heat up, turning first red, then yellow, then white with intense heat.

"Running! We should be running!" shouted Aiden. Our heroes bolted for the door and were halfway down the Valley of the Dead, when Hades blasted out of the concrete dome.

"Where do you losers think you're going!" Hades shouted as he stood on the edge of the path and shot bolts of fire down at our heroes.

"Out of here, that's the general plan!" said Hercules as he picked up a large rock and used it to deflect a flamethrower attack, then threw the rock up at Hades. The dark god teleported out of the way, then teleported to the bottom of the area.

But by then our heroes were in the next area and almost at the passage of the Cave of the Dead.

"Can't we do anything to slow this creep down?" Aiden asked as he transmuted one concrete barrier after another as our heroes ran up the passage, but Hades blasted through each with too much ease.

"I've been trying to think of something!" said Riku, "but nothing's coming!"

"Let's just focus on staying alive!" said Roxas as he, Sora and Donald blasted several Blizzard attacks back at Hades, but the ice attacks melted and evaporated even before they got within an inch of the flaming god.

"Okay, this is serious now," said Tess as our heroes reached the entrance to the Cave of the Dead, with Hades barely a few paces behind them, "time to pray now!"

"Oh you'd better pray!" snapped Hades as he summoned a massive wall of flames that blocked toe door to the Underworld Entrance, trapping our heroes with him in the room, "pray that I wipe out all of you in this next shot, 'cause anyone still left alive is gonna wish they had died instantly!"

"Wait!" said Aiden, "doesn't Maleficent want me and Kairi? Won't she be angry with you if you kill us?" Sora and the others knew that Aiden was trying to stall for time, but it wasn't working.

"Maleficent can kiss my immortal derriere!" said Hades, "as long as I've got Hecate's spell book, I can counter anything Maleficent has."

"You mean this book" Lyra asked daringly as she held up said spell book, "I grabbed it before you chased us out of your den."

"You can kill us, Hades," said Riku, "you can keep our souls here to torment for all of eternity, but you'll have to destroy the spell book in the process."

"No problem," said Hades as he charged up a huge fireball, "I'll just steal another from Mt. Olympus. Athena has another copy."

"You are by far the most unscrupulous fiend I've ever met," said an irate Lyra as she handed the book to Kairi, "and my own mother was one of the worst!"

"Guess you can't trust anyone!" said Hades, "any last words?"

"Yeah," said Hercules as he saw something behind Hades that made him smile, "look behind you!"

"You must think I'm pretty dim to fall for that old trick," said Hades. But then he realized that Cerberus was right behind him. Before Hades could react, Cerberus grabbed the flaming god and threw him out of the room, back into the passage of the Cave of the Dead.

"Let's go before he comes back!" said Sora, "all of us!" with that our heroes, and Cerberus, ran through the Underworld Entrance and was back up top in the Coliseum proper.

They then saw Hades running towards them, but the dark god was stopped cold at the entryway to the Underworld.

"Looks like Maleficent knew what she was doing," said Riku, "Hades can't cross the line."

"You brats!" raged Hades as he pounded against an invisible force that was keeping him in the dark realm, "you get back here so I can charbroil you!"

"In your dreams, sparky!" said Tess. At the same time, Sora, Donald and Roxas blasted Hades with Blizzard spells, forcing the dark god back into his realm.

"Well, we're safe for now," said Hercules, "as long as that spell on Hades is working, he can't come up here."

"And that whammy he put on Meg, it's broken now," said Sora, "I don't think he's got any more strings wrapped around her."

"Thank the gods," said Meg as she hugged Hercules, "the good ones I mean."

Just then a very irate Phil walked up to Sora, Riku and Kairi, "what is wrong with you guys! You ran out on the final match of the tournament, and those two Titans won by default!"

"Oh, the tournament," said Sora in a deflated tone, "we kinda forgot about it."

"We had a bit of an emergency," said Kairi.

"I don't care about that!" said Phil, "there's 4 words that count when it comes to tournaments; Never Stop Once You Start!"

"That's five, actually," said Jacob after he morphed back into his human form and got dressed again.

"Whatever," said Phil. He then saw that Cerberus was with our heroes, "and what's with this character? Isn't he on the other side?"

"He was," said Tess as she affectionately patted Cerberus's left side. His left head bent down and affectionately licked her, "he just needed to be treated with kindness, in order to free him from the darkness."

"He's not so bad, once he's away from Hades," said Hercules as he scratched Cerberus behind the ear of his right head. Cerberus's right head then licked Hercules. The giant dog then rolled over and Hercules began scratching his belly.

"Looks like someone's found a new master," said Riku. He then looked at Tess, "but what made you try to help Cerberus anyway?"

"He reminded me of Edge," said Tess in a slightly distant tone, "our dog my father and I had, before things got bad for us. Edge…he…he died when the enemy burned our home down."

"Oh," said Riku, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," said Tess as she gave him a reassuring smile, "Edge was a good dog and I'm glad for the good times we had. If I ever get another dog, I'll name him Edge 2, or Edgy, or something like that."

"We're really sorry we had to forfeit the tournament, Phil," said Kairi, "but there'll be another tournament, right?"

"I'd like to try to beat both of those Titans again," said Sora, "I beat them one on one, so both of them together shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, not impossible."

"You can only try," said Phil, "and you'll try alright. There's going to be more tournaments coming up than you could want. There's the Hera Cup, the Aphrodite Cup, the Apollo Cup, the Artemis Cup, the Athena Cup, the Poseidon Cup, the Zeus Cup, and each one is different. Kid, you and your friends have your hands full."

"We can hardly wait," said Sora.

"Lucky us," muttered Donald.

"Next tournament we'll get to fight," said Pan, "right, Lyra?"

"Absolutely," said Lyra.

"Count me in as well," said Jacob, "but we're still looking for Nessie, right?"

"Of course we're going to find Nessie," said Aiden, "your girlfriend has been plaguing our dreams for months, so there's no way we're going to forgo finding her."

"Then we'd better get going and find her," said Riku. With that everyone said their goodbyes to Hercules, Phil, Meg and Cerberus.

"You all take care of yourselves," said Sora. He then looked up at Cerberus, "and you especially take care of yourself." At that Cerberus barked in affirmation, which Pan translated as 'okay.'

A short time later our heroes had beamed aboard _The Intrepid Heart_, "hope you all had fun," said Sidney.

"It was alright," said Sora as our heroes walked to the bridge, "we didn't get to finish the tournament, but there'll be another soon."

"So, where are we going to go next?" Kairi asked. She held up her gold key, while Aiden looked at his, "and are we going to find another of these when we get there?"

"Whatever they are," said Riku, "they're important, I can feel it."

"They are important, somehow," said Tess, "but we won't solve this mystery by just sitting around. So, where next in this crazy universe?"

"The Alethiometer won't say exactly where," said Lyra as she looked up from her golden compass, "it just says to trust Sora."

"That's what we've been doing for a long time now," said Aiden, "so, Sora, where to next?"

Sora then looked at holographic map of the worlds. Beasts' Castle was nearby, but then on the other side of the map was Neverland, and he remembered that he owed a visit to a certain blond pixy.

"We still need to thank Tinker Bell for the Pixy Dust," said Sora, "we can visit Beast and Belle later. Riku, set course for Neverland."

"Course laid in," said Riku, "and here we go." He pressed the button and the ship jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

><p><strong>…New Hollow Bastion…<strong>

"Yes, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator as he spoke into his cell phone, while his other hand held his PDA, which showed the picture of Kairi that Dirk Digger took before he was destroyed, "I have her photo now, and I'm sending it right now," The Negotiator then transmitted Kairi's picture out, "it should be on your Mobile any second."

"Outstanding," said a human voice on the other end of the cell phone, "she's definitely the one, just as I knew she would be. I'll admit that my last few choices were flawed, but this girl, Kairi, she's the one, I just know it. How soon can she be brought here?"

"That's not going so well, sir," said The Negotiator, "the girl has evaded all attempts at capture so far. Apparently she's just as powerful as we expected, and her companions are equally as powerful."

"I never said capturing her would be easy," said Gideon Graves, "you're just not using the right demons to get her. If I have to, I'll send one of the Evil Exes."

"I doubt that will be necessary, sir," said The Negotiator, "but if you wish it, it shall be done."

"I will have her," said Gideon, "I will have Kairi. But I'm a patient man, I can wait. Anyway, how goes everything else?"

"Not good, sir," said The Negotiator, "we still haven't found The Talisman. It's not on Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, The Land of Dragons, Port Royal or Olympus Coliseum." his PDA then beeped with a message, "and apparently it's not on Halloween Town either.

"But there's still a lot of worlds to search, sir. We'll find it before the idiot heroes do."

"We'd better find it," said Gideon, "that Talisman is the only thing that can ruin my plans. Find it before the losers do!"

"It shall be as you say, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator, "oh, there is good news. Maleficent is falling into the trap. It's only a matter of time before she's eating out of the palm of my hand."

"Good," said Gideon, "she'll be a key instrument of my final triumph over all of creation."

"It shall be as you say, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator. With that the call ended and the demon went back to work. He then spoke to an subordinate demon, "it seems that we're going to have to bring in the Evil Exes after all."

"But sir," said the subordinate demon, "all of the Evil Exes are on assignment. Matthew Pattel is at Atlantica, negotiating with the thin sea witch for the release of the fat one that Maleficent has locked up in the castle freezer."

"Ah, yes," said The Negotiator, "that time-space anomaly around Atlantica has allowed Mr. Pattell to go into the future and open a dialog with Ursula's psychotic sister, as if the first one wasn't insane enough to begin with. What of the rest of the Evil Exes?"

"Lucas Lee is involved in the deforestation project on Deep Jungle," said the lesser demon, "while Todd Ingram is on his way to Beast's Castle, and Roxanne Ritcher is MIA, and there has been no word either from the Katayanagi Twins."

At that the Negotiator sighed, "I asked Mr. Graves about keeping a tighter leash on his pets. We all know the fiasco they caused when Mr. Graces sent them against Scott Pilgrim."

"I wish I could forget the Scott Pilgrim fiasco," said the subordinate demon.

"The only thing we can do now is wait for Sora and his companions to encounter one of the Evil Exes," said The Negotiator, "and pity the poor fools, for no pathetic hero if this universe can stand against the League of Evil Exes."

But just out of sight, Maleficent watched the two demons, "I look forward to meeting these Evil Exes," she said to herself, "and to the end of this little game of ours. You think you can subdue the mistress of all evil. I look forward to the day I prove you wrong."

**The end of chapter 7.**

Next chapter we switch back to Team Hayner as they are forced to gamble for their lives against the meanest person in Halloween Town. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	8. Chapter 8: The Games of Halloween Town

Last time found Sora and the others bringing Hercules and Phil back to Olympus Coliseum and participating in a new tournament. At the same time, Hades plotted with one of the demons to bring Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess and the others down to his realm in order to use their Keyblades to break Maleficent's curse and free him from The Underworld. But the fiery god didn't count on Lyra and Pan as she used her Alethiometer to warn Sora and the others of Hade's plan. Things were turned even more upside-down for Hades when Tess 'tamed' Cerberus and our heroes escaped from The Underworld, leaving Hades still trapped. Promising Phil and Hercules to come back for the next tournament, our heroes finally set out for Neverland. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 8: The Games of Halloween Town**

"Ground and center," said Nessie as she, Will, Kirjava, Hayner, Pence and Olette, stood in the exorcise room of the Voyaging Light, "keeping a stable balance, like a firm foundation, in your mind and your heart, and you will have it."

"I don't see how thinking like a building foundation can help with magic," said Pence as he and Hayner tried to learn how to use magic like Nessie could. So far the two boys were out of luck.

"You're not focusing right," said Nessie, "picture the spell with your minds' eye, let the awesome power of the lightning flow through your being," she closed her eyes and the blue lightning flashed into existence in her hand, "let the magic guide you."

"Oh it's guiding me, alright," said a smiling Olette as she summoned her own lightning. Hers was bright orange and she could only hold it in her hand for a few seconds before it dissipated without condensing into a ball like Nessie could, but it was there.

"I have a question," said Will as he failed to make his own lightning, "are all the magic users on your world girls? Because I'm just not feeling it."

"There's plenty of boy magic users on my world," said Nessie, "but magic isn't for everyone. Either you got it, or you don't."

"Well I certainly don't got it," said Hayner, "I think I'll stick with ki, that at least I can use."

"Same with me," said Pence, "I'm way better at that than magic."

"Ki and magic are similar in their methods," said Will, "you need to have the right state of mind. But then, some people are better and some things than others." He then focused his ki and lifted a 300lb weight with one hand easily.

Hayner and Pence also focused their ki and each lifted a large weight with one hand.

"What amazes me is how you all managed to learn the basics so easily," said Kirjava, "Will here needed a whole year to get where he is in ki manipulation."

"And it took me also a while to get this far," said Nessie, "I would have gone further, if it weren't for that jerk Gideon," she picked up a 500lb weight and crushed it into one big lump of metal, "When I get my hands on that dirty, rotten, specky son of a pig, I'm gonna beat him so hard, he'll have a twitch!"

"What does that mean?" Olette asked as everyone left the exorcise room.

"Something from a computer game," said Nessie, "anyway, this next world we're going to, we need to keep our eyes, ears and noses open. That compass of Jack Sparrow's, it pointed to this one specific world, so Jacob has to be here."

"I hope we find him for you," said Olette, "but if we don't…"

"I won't let the disappointment wear me down," said Nessie, "but I have a feeling that he's close, close enough to almost smell him. Either that or I'm smelling dinner."

"My casserole!" exclaimed Pence as he ran for the kitchen. He got there just in time to pull dinner out of the oven before it burned.

"Broccoli and cream of mushroom soup," said Nessie as she sniffed the casserole, "with cheese crackers on top, delicious!"

"I hoped you'd like it," said Pence, "and wait till you see what I'm fixing for desert."

"Pecan pie," said Nessie as she smelled the air again, "with…with brown sugar instead of white."

"You can tell the difference?" Pence asked, "awesome! You should be a food critic."

"I can be anything I want," said Nessie as our heroes headed for the bridge, "even though I want to use my powers to fight the darkness, I can still have a day job."

"What do you have in mind?" Will asked.

"Oh, the usual," said Nessie in a nonchalant manner as she counted on her fingers, "doctor, lawyer, nuclear biologist, quantum physicist, first woman on another planet, military computer program designer, the usual options."

"Just how smart are you?" Hayner asked in a slightly uncomfortable tone.

"Pretty smart actually," said Nessie, "my grandfather had over 300 years to become the best doctor in the world, and my father, he's had several decades to learn more than the rest of my family combined. With us immortals, the sky is the limit when it comes to knowledge."

"I guess that's cool," said Pence.

"You think that's cool," said Nessie, "there are some vampires on my world that are thousands of years old. Imagine how much you can learn in that much time."

"I'd rather not," said Olette, "not the learning part, but living for thousands of years. I mean, wouldn't you get bored with immortality after a while?"

"I'd be bored if I were immortal," said Hayner.

"It all depends on what you do with your life," said Nessie, "my world is constantly changing, with new ideas and new trends being born every day, and new people to meet. I've only started with my life, when compared to everyone else, so the chances of my being bored are almost null and void."

"We're coming up on Halloween Town," said Vivi, "we'll be in orbit soon."

"Great," said Hayner, "any signs of life?"

"Oh there's movement down there," said Pence as he looked at the scanners, "but…I don't know what kind of life. There's all sorts of…things…down there."

"Heartless?" Olette asked.

"Demons?" Nessie asked.

"More like the biggest Halloween party ever," said Will as he looked at the scanners, "it's like everyone's wearing monster costumes, but the costumes are the people."

"I'm not afraid of a bunch of living horror costumes," said Hayner, "let's go see what's down there."

"I've seen a lot of horror movies," said Pence as he confidently crossed his arms, "I'm not afraid of anything."

"Then how come whenever there's a circus in town," said Olette in a taunting manner, "you always stay at home."

"I've been wondering about that," said Hayner, "why do you avoid the circus, Pence?"

"I just don't like the circus, that's all," said Pence in a slightly uncomfortable manner, "the food always sucks, and I don't like looking at animals in captivity."

"But you love going to the zoo," said Hayner, "and the food at the zoo isn't that much different from that at a circus."

"I have a feeling that what Pence is afraid of isn't something as simple as that," said Will.

"Do you want me to tell them what you're afraid of?" Olette asked, "or are you going to do it."

"What is she talking about?" Hayner asked.

At that Pence turned away from the others, facing the wall with shame, "it's the clowns, I don't like clowns."

"Oh, clowns," said Nessie, "oh, I understand completely."

"You're afraid of clowns?" Hayner asked in a disbelieving manner.

"I always have been," said an embarrassed Pence, "they've always scared the pants off of me. And what's not to be afraid of them? The baggy pants; who knows what's in them? And those huge shoes that can crush you. And then there's the makeup. You have no idea what kind of person is behind all the grease paint. For all you know, the guy is a murdering psychopath."

"I had no idea," said a shocked Hayner.

"I knew," said Olette, "he told me the last time there was a circus back home. Pence made me promise not to tell anyone unless he said I could."

"You must think I'm pathetic," said a very depressed Pence.

"Of course not!" said Hayner, "you think being afraid is pathetic? Try being afraid of bees."

"What?" exclaimed Pence, "but you debug the empty lots downtown all the time, and they're always full of bees."

"I didn't know you were afraid of bees," said Olette, "wait, are you allergic to bees?"

"No," said Hayner, "they just creep me out, all buzzing and flying all over, and they sting a lot. I take the debugging jobs so that I get the chance to face my fear, but every time I go after the bees I nearly freak out and run for it."

"I had no idea," said Olette. As if on impulse, she then spoke, "I'm scared to death of rats, they're just evil little monsters."

"I'm afraid of knives," said Will, "every time I see one, I get the feeling that I'm going to lose more fingers," he held up the hand that had two missing fingers.

"It's true," said Kirjava, "sometimes he simply cuts his food with a fork."

"I'm afraid of germs," said Nessie.

"What?" Olette asked, "but you're immortal. I mean, vampires don't get sick, do they?"

"Not that I know of," said Nessie, "but I'm half human after all. There's a lot of things that I still don't know about my life, about what will happen to me as I get older. I've never been sick at in all my life, but that doesn't mean I can't get sick at all. Now, I've helped out with my grandfather Carlisle sometimes at the hospital he works at, and I have been around sick people, so I know that I can't get a cold or the flu.

"But there are some diseases that scare me silly," she shuddered, "hemorrhagic fever for one thing, Ebola, cholera, HIV and AIDS," she shuddered again, "if I decide to become a doctor like Carlisle, I'm going to do my best to find a cure for those two. But the one thing that scares me the most is a necrotizing soft tissue infection."

"What's that?" Hayner asked.

"And explain it to us who have little if no knowledge in medical science," said Pence.

"It's flesh eating bacteria," said Will, "I also want to be a doctor."

"Flesh eating bacteria," said Nessie, her voice full of fear, "possibly the worst way to die. Imagine being slowly but surely eaten live by microscopic life forms, especially if it's _Streptococcus pyogenes_, the same sickness that causes Strep Throat, those buggers are vicious once they start eating at you."

"But if you're half vampire, then you're immune to everything, right?" Pence asked.

"I sincerely hope so," said Nessie, "otherwise, I'm in serious trouble."

"Let's not worry about fears and germs right now," said Kirjava, "there's a world to explore, and that takes true grit."

"That's right," said Will, "how are we going to find Jacob if we're all afraid of each other's shadows?"

"True, true," said Nessie.

"Now that we've gotten our fears out in the open, we're ready to go," said Hayner.

"We've talked about our fears," said Olette, "but what about you, Kirjava? What's your fear?"

"The same thing as Will," said Kirjava, "I sometimes get scared of knives," she closed her eyes, "but there is something…but I don't think it's a fear."

"What do you mean?" Pence asked.

"It's nothing really," said Kirjava, "wait, I mean…it's not a fear of something real, but it's not an irrational fear, not a phobia. It's more like the fear of what is to come, of the uncertainty of the future. I'm afraid that something terrible is on the horizon, something that none of us will have the power to stop, and when it does come, everything and everyone we care about will be destroyed."

"Everyone's afraid of the future," said Nessie, "not knowing what's going to happen next, it can leave you paralyzed with terror. Except for my Aunt Alice, she's more familiar with the future than anyone else in existence, and even she was afraid when the future was uncertain, even for her.

"I know what I'm talking about. When I was little, and I mean little, like only a few weeks old, my whole family was afraid _for _me. They had never seen anyone like me and didn't know how I would turn out. My mother was worried half out of her mind that my accelerated growing would kill me before I had a chance to really live," she smiled, "glad that turned out okay. Then of course, there's the chance that The Volturi can still come back."

"Who?" Pence asked.

"The Volturi," said Nessie, "They're vampires who make sure other vampires don't expose ourselves to humans, not without consequences."

"They sound creepy," said Olette.

"They're not that bad," said Nessie, "okay, they're power-hungry sociopaths with no respect for human life and see other vampires as either servants or possessions to own. They'll leave you alone as long as you don't draw too much attention from the humans. Otherwise they'll rip you to pieces and burn you to ashes."

"Okay," said Hayner in an unsure manner.

They went to the transporter room. "There's an alley next to a town square that I can beam you down," said Vivi as Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Nessie got onto the transporter pad, "hopefully you won't draw any attention when you get there."

"Here's hoping that there aren't any demons there," said Hayner, "beam us down."

"Energizing," said Vivi.

The next thing Hayner and the others knew after Vivi activated the transporter, they were in a black cobblestone alley surrounded by dark yet lively macabre buildings.

Then they noticed that their clothes had all changed, as if by arriving on the world they had automatically donned costumes and makeup.

Hayner and Pence wore ornately crafted black armor, with Hayner's armor having a tiger theme and Pence's armor looking like a rhino. Hayner's sword was on his waist in an elaborately crafted sheath, while Pence's fist shields were out in his hands.

Olette wore a black silk dress that accented her body. Her eyes had black eyeliner and her eyelashes were a bit longer and her nails were painted black. To complete the picture, she now wore a black witches hat. Her staff had changed into an elegantly crafted wand.

Will wore a white scientists lab coat that had red stains and had green rubber gloves on his hands. His hair was sticking out wildly and he wore goggles over his eyes, while his sword was on his back. Kirjava looked more like a wild cat than the domesticated species she was, and she also had a slight hunch on her back.

As for Nessie, she also wore a black silk dress that accented her body, with her sword in a woven sheath on her waist attacked to a belt set with opals and sapphires, but her skin had turned deathly pale, her nails were a bit longer, also painted black, her hair was slicked back and straight, and…

"Fangs?" an exasperated Nessie asked with a slight lisp as she felt her elongated canine teeth, "vampires don't have fangs! Not on my world they don't!"

"How are we supposed to avoid drawing attention wearing these outrageous outfits?" Olette asked, "but I do like this dress, it fits so perfectly. How did they know my size?"

"I feel like I've been thrown into a Universal Monster movie," said Will.

"I feel like I've been turn into a loyal minion," said Kirjava.

"What kind of crazy world is this?" Hayner asked as he and Pence clunked around in their new armor. The suits weren't that hevy, but it would be a while before they were used to the,.

"This is degrading," said Nessie as she looked at her bleached skin, "I look like a stereotypical monster. I can't go out in public like this. If my family saw me like this, they'd disown me in a second."

"We're feeling just as weird," said Pence, "but it's either put up with it, or leave."

"We can't leave," said Nessie in a reluctant tone, "not without looking for Jacob first, so," she sighed, "let's just get it over with."

**...Halloween Town...**

They walked out of the alley and found themselves in a round town square of sorts. One of the buildings looked like a large stone jack-o'-lantern, while several other buildings looked like haunted houses. The center of the area had a large guillotine and one street seemed to lead to a graveyard.

Outside one of the houses were two people. The first was a man with a triangle-shaped body in a gray business suit and a tall top hat. On his suit was a large button with a red ribbon, with the word 'Mayor' on it. His head had two faces that could rotate with his head; one side was a permanent smile with spiral on his left eye, while the other face was freakishly-white and wore a permanent frown.

The frowning face was on the man's front as he spoke to the other man, a mad scientist in a motorized wheelchair. He had gray skin and an oversized head and wore black gloves and black glasses over his eyes The top of his head had a horizontal scar that went the whole way around.

"I don't care how hard you've worked on your experiment, Dr. Finkelstein," said the man in the business suit, The Mayor, "you know full well that all projects must be approved by Jack before they can be used in the next Halloween."

"You politicians are all alike," said the irate mad scientist, Dr. Finkelstein, "always getting in the way of creative genius! My plan will be the greatest thing to happen to Halloween since the creation of candy corn!"

The smiling face of The Mayor then rotated to his front, "I'm sure your idea is wonderful, Dr. Finkelstein, but Jack has to approve of it first before it is incorporated in the upcoming festivities. If you would just be patient…"

"I've been patient!" snapped Dr. Finkelstein as he slammed his fist into the arm of his wheelchair, "I've waited while Jack played with that floozy of a girl, Sally, a girl that I created to be my companion. I knew I shouldn't have given Sally a brain. It's my own fault for wanting someone to have a conversation with."

"Uh…is this a bad time?" a hesitant Hayner asked.

The Mayor and Dr. Finkelstein then saw Hayner and the others. "Ah, new people!" said a very eager Mayor. He walked over to them, "Welcome, welcome, newcomers. I am The Mayor of Halloween Town," he indicated the mad scientist in the wheel chair, "this is our resident inventor, Dr. Finkelstein."

"Young ones," said Dr. Finkelstein in a polite yet dry tone as he nodded in acknowledgement. He then faced The Mayor, "if there isn't anything else, Mayor, I'll be in my laboratory until Jack returns." With that he drove his wheelchair to one of the houses and went in.

"There goes a serious sourpuss," said Pence.

"Yes," said the Mayor in an understanding tone, "he takes some getting used to. Now, what can I do for you young travelers?"

"We're looking for someone," said Nessie, "someone very precious to me," she then gave Jacob's description, "have you seen him?"

"Hmmm," said the Mayor, "I can't say I have seen this young man of yours. But I have been rather busy with the upcoming holiday predations and my attention has been focused on other matters. But if your friend has been here, if he is still on this world, then there is one person who can help you."

Just then a very tall skeleton wearing a black pinstripe suit with a bat-like bowtie and a white pumpkin for a head walked in. "What interesting newcomers," he said.

"Permit me to introduce," said The Mayor, "Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King and lord and master of all things Halloween."

"How do you do," said Jack Skellington as he bowed and took of his head as if it were a hat.

"I'm very well, thank you," said Nessie. She then realized that Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will and Kirjava were staring at Jack Skellington with shocked expressions. "uh…don't mind them, they don't have as much experience with strange things as I do."

"Strange is the norm in this world," said Jack Skellington as he placed his head back on his neck.

"For the love of all things sacred and wholesome," said a nervous Pence, "just ask him about Jacob already so we can get out of here."

"Right," said Nessie. "Mr. Skellington…"

"Please, call me Jack."

"Right," said Nessie, "Jack. You know, you're the second Jack my friends and I have met since we started this journey of ours."

"Really?" Jack asked, "I wonder what this other Jack is like?"

"Not as…interesting as you are," said Nessie.

"And you are quite the intriguing young lady," said Jack, "I do believe you have a an immortal in your family."

"My father," said Nessie.

Just then a woman walked up to Jack. She seemed to have been made up of different parts from different bodies, all sewn together with thread, giving her a patchwork look.

"Jack?" she patchwork woman asked, "who are your new friends?"

"They haven't actually given their names yet, Sally," said Jack.

"Sorry," said Nessie. She then introduced herself and the others, "we're here looking for a very dear friend of mine."

"They've come a long way, Jack," said the Mayor, "apparently as far as Sora and his friends."

"You know Sora?" Olette asked.

"He's a friend of mine," said Jack, "someone who has helped save this world, Halloween and Christmas."

"Do you know him?" Sally asked, "and is he coming back again?"

"We haven't seen him in a while," said Hayner, "but if we see him we'll tell him you asked about him."

"In the meanwhile," said Nessie, "have you seen Jacob?"

But before Jack could answer, the whole Town Square was filled with Wright Knight-type Heartless, Search Ghosts and Gargoyles.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the Mayor in a terrified tone as his faced switched while the various Heartless began running amuck, "not again! Jack! Do something! I'm only an elected official!"

"These things don't know when to quit!" said Jack as he blasted one Wright Knight with a Fire spell, then kicked an Gargoyle.

"I have a feeling that Sora's help out with this as well," said Hayner as he and the others readied their weapons and attacked the offending Heartless.

"Well now it's our turn!" said Pence as he bashed a Gargoyle, then smashed a Search Ghost before it could teleport away.

"Isn't there a world that isn't threatened by the darkness?" Olette asked as she bashed a Wright Knight, then blasted another with a Thunder spell.

"Things would be boring that way," said Will as he and Kirjava attacked a group of Search Ghosts.

"I'm just trying to be as normal as a half vampire can be," said Nessie as she stabbed a Wright Knight, then ripped a Gargoyle in half.

"Why be normal when you can be extraordinary?" Jack asked as he finished off the last of the attacking Heartless.

"It's wrong when being extraordinary can get you in big enough trouble that could get your whole family killed," said Nessie, "but yes, it is cool to be different sometimes."

Just then three demons with bat-like faces, spotted bodies and dressed like hippies, appeared in the square, "what's the use of these Heartless if they're going to be destroyed?" one of the bat-demons asked, one with orange fur on its face.

"You'd think that we'd get better minions," said the second bat-like demon, one with green fur.

"I can think of better minions," said the third bat-demon, one with blue fur, "but Mr. Graves wanted to use them."

"That goes to show that Gideon has bad taste," said Nessie.

The three bat demons then saw Nessie and the others, "oh look, dudes," said the orange-furred bat-demon, "it's the reject!" At that the three bat-demons laughed cruelly.

"Don't you make fun of my friend!" said an irate Olette, "I'll turn you all into toads!"

"Oh please, not toad demons," said the blue-furred bat-demon in a mocking manner, "not toads! They're so slimy!"

"And they eat flies," said the green-furred bat-demon, "we'll get sick if we eat nothing but flies." At that the three bat-demons laughed cruelly again.

"What's your problem?" Pence asked. "You guys are acting weird, even for demons."

"Sorry," said the orange-furred demon, "we're part hyena."

"Laughing is part of who we are," said the blue-furred demon.

"And we demons do love a good joke," said the green-furred demon. At that the three of them started laughing again.

"You guys aren't joking," said Nessie in an accusing tone as she sniffed the air, "you guys are high! I can smell weed on your breaths!"

"They have been smoking reefer," said Kirjava, "I can smell it as well."

"No dudes," said the green-furred demon, "we're not on drugs, man."

"We don't do that, man," said the orange-furred demon, "I mean, we won't buy that stuff, but I'll take a hit if someone passes it to me."

"Speaking of which," said the blue-furred demon, "I'm coming down from my buzz, man. Anybody got any?"

"You took my last, man," said the green-furred demon.

"I'm out too, dude," said the orange-furred demon. It then looked at Hayner and the others, "how about you groovy cats? Are you holding any?"

"No," said an irate Hayner.

"William Holden?" the blue-furred demon asked in a giggling manner, "did Holden Caufield call while we were out?"

"No," said an irate Pence, "marijuana is illegal on Twilight Town. We don't do any drugs, thank you very much?"

"How about nitrous?" the green-furred demon asked, "I'll take a whiff of that?"

"I can't believe a professional Villain like Gideon Graves would higher a bunch of stoners like you!" said an outraged Nessie.

"Oh, right, business," said the blue-furred bat-demon, "just give us a second, will ya'? That'd be righteous, man." The three demons then took several long, deep breaths and shook their heads about as if to clear their ears of water.

"There, all straight again," said the orange bat-demon in a serious tone.

"Time to get down to business," said the blue bat-demon.

"Just what are you cretins doing here?" Jack asked.

"Isn't is obvious?" the green bat-demon asked.

"You think your world is so perfect, Jack Skellington," said the orange bat-demon in a taunting manner, "well your perfect little world is about to come crumbling down."

"Mr. Graves has big plans for this pathetic planet," said the blue bat-demon, "he plans to destroy this place, the entire world, and thereby ruining all holidays forever!"

"Halloween, Christmas, all of them," said the green bat-demon, "they're all going to be destroyed, and all children throughout time and space will be miserable all year long, as Mr. Graves wishes."

"That's Gideon's plan?" a shocked Nessie asked, "to make kids miserable?"

"Mr. Graves has many plans," said the orange bat-demon, "each world in this universe is destined to be transformed by the will of Mr. Graves."

"Well this is one plan that Gideon is going to hear bad news about!" snapped Nessie, "how dare that monster even think about taking away the holidays! The universe needs holidays like Christmas and Halloween, and there's Thanksgiving and Easter to look forward to as well."

"Valentines day," said Will, "and the Americans have the 4th of July."

"They'll all be destroyed!" said the orange bat-demon.

"Over my half-undead body," said Nessie as she raised her sword, while Hayner and the others readied their weapons again.

"I have something to say about it as well!" said Dr. Finkelstein as he drove his wheelchair over to them, "I have quite a lot to say about your rotten plan to destroy all holidays!"

"Is that so?" the blue bat-demon asked, "well then, do tell us. What does an overbearing mad scientist who can't even keep his own created girlfriend under control have to say about our plans?"

At that Dr. Finkelstein was dumbstruck. He opened up his skull and scratched his brain, "umm…I…wait, I know I had something impressive to say, but I seem to have lost it."

"I'm sure you'll remember it, doctor," said Jack. He then faced the three bat demons with an irate expression on his jack-o'-lantern face, "but I have something to say myself. How dare you fiends come to this world with the vile intent to destroy all holidays! It's the holidays that make life worth wile, especially Christmas and Halloween!"

"Especially Halloween!" said The Mayor.

"Mr. Graves has no use for holidays," said the orange bat-demon, "when Mr. Graves says that something is unnecessary, it is to be destroyed."

"No!" said Dr. Finkelstein, "I won't let you ruin all of my hard work!" he then looked at Jack, "I had the most fantastic plan for next Halloween, Jack, but these ruffians wish to ruin everything, so I might as well unveil my latest invention here and now."

"With all due respect, doctor," said Sally, "but how can one of your inventions save the holidays?"

"Yeah," said the blue bat-demon, "how can a crazy doctor in a wheelchair stop us?"

"I'll show you in one minute!" said Dr. Finkelstein as he pulled out a remote control device that resembled a Dual Shock controller from a PS2, but had a big red button in the middle.

"Bold words from an egghead cripple!" said the green bat demon.

"Oh you did not just make fun of a disabled person!" said an irate Will.

"Have you no sense of shame and decency!" Kirjava demanded.

"We're demons, duh!" said the orange bat-demon.

"You hooligans have crossed the line!" said Dr. Finkelstein as he pressed the big red button on the controller. The building that housed his laboratory shook as the roof opened up and revealed a large robot. It walked on two legs and had a large body with a massive steel-trap mouth and three red eyes. On its sides were weapons pods, the left had laser guns while the right had pumpkin bomb launchers.

"Meet my Mark 1 Halloween Town Defender!" said Dr. Finkelstein, "my plan was to make an independent monster movie about an indestructible robot terrorizing the human world, but in this case," he pressed the 'Start' button and the robot came online, "I think I'll let my creation have some exorcise."

"Does that thing really work?" Pence asked, "cause it's really cool and it'd be even cooler if it was a real fighting robot."

"It's functional, alright," said Dr. Finkelstein as he pressed the desired buttons on his controller. The robot then aimed its laser cannon at the green bat-demon and it fired a red laser bolt at it, knocking the demon down.

"Bummer, man," said the demon as it dissolved into green slime.

"Awesome!" said Hayner, Pence and Olette at the same time.

"Oh, dude," said a shocked orange bat-demon, "that's harsh. Not cool, man, not cool at all."

"I knew you would be impressed!" said Dr. Finkelstein as he pressed more buttons, "now have some more!" The robot then shot several pumpkin bombs at the two remaining demons and they both got hit, with the orange bat-demon taking more damage than the other.

"Serious bummer, man," said the orange bat-demon. It then dissolved into orange slime.

"Dudes," said the blue bat-demon, "this is so not cool."

"What's not cool is you jerks," said Nessie, "you guys definitely deserve this."

"But it's too easy," said Kirjava, "demons shouldn't have gone down this easily."

"Yes," said Dr. Finkelstein in a contemplative manner as he scratched his brain again, "it was too easy, even for my creative genius."

"There's definitely more going on here," said Jack. He then leaned down at the now beginning to dissolve blue bat demon, "what's your real plan?"

At that the blue bat-demon began to laugh, not in a drug-induced manner, but in a truly evil manner, "you idiots! You think that my friends and I were the real threat to this world? Well guess again! Mr. Graves is far too intense to put leave his plans up to a bunch of stoner demons. My friends and I were just a distraction."

"For what?" Nessie asked.

Just then everyone heard Sally screaming in terror. They all turned around to see Lock, Shlock and Barrel tied Sally up and throwing her into their walking bathtub.

"Sally!" shouted Jack.

"Jack!" shouted Sally before Shlock taped her mouth shut.

"Sorry to do this, Jack," said Barrel, "but the real demons said they'd skin us if we didn't do this."

"And they offered us all the Halloween candy we can eat for life," said Lock.

"They're going to destroy Halloween, you juvenile delinquents!" shouted The Mayor.

"Then all the candy is ours!" said Shlock. They then scurried away with their walking bathtub with Sally tied up in it.

"You miscreants won't get away!" said Dr. Finkelstein as he directed his robot to shoot its laser at the trio of troublemakers.

"Don't!" said Jack, "you'll hit Sally!"

At that Dr. Finkelstein faltered and stopped his robot.

"Later, losers!" shouted Lock, "but if you want to play, for real, we'll be where Oogie Boogie's place was."

"See you there, if you dare!" shouted Barrel as they ran out of the area.

"I could have saved her," said Nessie, "I'm fast enough. I could have grabbed her before they escaped."

"But someone had to ruin things with his toy robot," said Will to Dr. Finkelstein in an admonishing manner. "Now we have to go after them the hard way."

"I know where they're going," said Jack, "they'll pay for this. Those three, Lock, Shlock and Barrel, they've caused a lot of trouble for this world, and now they've gone too far."

"Then let's stop them before they hurt Sally," said Will, "let's go."

"We're with you on this," said Hayner, while Pence, Olette and Kirjava nodded in agreement.

"As am I," said Nessie, "no one hurts my friends and gets away with it."

"But we still don't know what their plan is," said Olette.

"Why don't we ask bat boy over there," said Pence as he pointed to the blue bat-demon. But then everyone saw that the demon had dissolved into slime.

"Oh," said Pence in a sheepish manner, "okay then, we'll have to save Sally on our own."

"It'll be more challenging," said Jack, "but then nothing in life is ever easy."

"What do you want me to do, Jack?" Dr. Finkelstein asked, "I know Sally chose you, but I still care for her. Tell me what I can do to help her, please."

"Just be ready to come and help," said Jack, "those three troublemakers rarely do anything on their own, so they're sure to have someone giving them orders, and that someone is sure to have a plan, a real plan this time."

"Then we'd better hurry," said Nessie, "before whoever is responsible does whatever he's planning to do."

"This way!" said Jack as he pointed Hayner, Nessie and the others to the street that would take them to Moonlight Hill and beyond, "the chase is on!" With that they all ran after the trio of kidnappers.

Along the way Jack told Hayner, Nessie and the others of the various schemes Oogie Boogie had caused on the world and all the trouble he made when Jack tried to 'improve' Christmas.

"This Oogie Boogie sounds like a real jerk," said Hayner.

"He was the meanest person in Halloween Town," said Jack, "and if it wasn't for Sora and his friends, then Oogie Boogie would have destroyed the world with Heartless, and the other time he would have ruined Christmas."

"I'm starting to like this Sora," said Will.

"We'll give him a medal when we see him," said Nessie.

They reached the huge hole in the ground were Oogie Boogie's house was. Right in the middle of the large pit was a makeshift altar where Sally lay tied up. Several more bat-demons, all of them more heavily muscled than the three stoner bat-demons, while standing over the tied up Sally was a humanoid demon, wearing black robes and carrying a huge knife in its hands.

"Sally!" shouted Jack.

"Jack!' shouted Sally.

"You're too late, Skellington!" said the robbed demon. It then cut off a piece of Sally's left hand and threw it onto the altar, landing on a burning brazier. The second the piece of Sally touched the fire the flames turned black, "soon the ritual will be complete! Only the flesh of an innocent can revive Oogie Boogie! And he will be the one to destroy all holidays!"

"Jack! He's serious!" shouted Sally, "he's gonna bring Oogie Boogie back!"

"That can't be good at all," said Hayner.

"It's worse than you realize," said Jack.

"Then let's get down there and stop them from ruining the holidays!" said Pence. With that they all jumped from the ledge of the pit. But then Hayner, Pence and Olette remembered the law of gravity, that what comes up must come down, hard.

"This was a bad idea!" shouted Olette as she, Pence and Hayner fell to the ground and landed roughly, while Nessie, Will, Kirjava and Jack neatly landed without a scratch.

"We need more practice being heroes," said Hayner as he, Pence and Olette picked themselves up.

"You can train later," said Will, "we've got to stop them!"

"You cannot stop the inevitable!" shouted the robed demon. It then directed to the bat-demons, "get them!" The bat-demons then rushed at Jack, Nessie and the others.

"We don't have time for this!" said Jack as he threw one bat-demon aside, kicked another and blasted a third with a Fire spell.

"Well going through these things seem to be the only way to get to Sally," said Nessie as she stabbed and slashed at bat-demons left and right, but more and more kept coming.

"If someone were to make an opening in the creeps," said Will, "we could punch through and get to Sally before it's too late!"

"I'm open to suggestions," said Hayner.

"Your efforts are futile!" said the robed demon. It then summoned a lot of Wright Knights, Gargoyles and Search Ghosts.

"Now I'm really starting to dislike Heartless!" said Pence as he bashed one Wright Knight, then smashed a Gargoyle. "I'd do the homework of everyone at school for a month in exchange for a machine gun! Or a cannon!"

"Wait! That's it!" said Olette as she swatted a Search Ghost, then blasted a Wright Knight with a Blizzard spell, "a cannon!"

"What are you talking about?" Pence asked.

"A cannon!" said Olette, "or rather, a human cannon!"

"I don't get it!" said Hayner as he stabbed a Gargoyle.

"Like in the circus!" said Olette.

"Oh!" said Hayner, "a human cannonball!"

"What are you talking about?" Pence asked again.

"I think I know what you're talking about," said Nessie as she grinned . She then ran over to Pence and picked him up like he was a empty sack.

"What are you doing?" Pence asked as Nessie held him over her head.

"I call this one the fastball special!" said Nessie as she threw Pence at the robed demon. He got the message in mid-flight and aimed a punch at the demon. He hit the demon as he reached the alter, knocking the monster off of the alter.

"I'll have you out of there in a second, Sally," said Pence as he untied her.

"Sally!" shouted Jack as he finally broke free of the attacking demons and Heartless and ran up to her, "did that fiend hurt you much?"

"I'm alright, Jack," said Sally as Pence and Jack got her off of the alter, while Jack bound her cut hand, "but I think it's too late. Look!"

A rift in reality was forming above the altar, and in that rift was a ghost-like shape, a ghost that had a body like a burlap sack full of bugs.

"Is that…?" Hayner asked as he, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Nessie caught up with Jack and Pence.

"Yes," said Jack in a grave tone, "That's Oogie Boogie!"

The ghost in the first then glared down at Jack and the others, "well, well, well; look who's here for my happy return! Old pumpkin head and his entourage!"

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Oogie Boogie," said the robed demon as it stood up, "the portal to limbo is stabilized. But my magic is needed in order to let you back in this side of reality. I hope you remember your end of the bargain."

"Yeah, I know," said Oogie Boogie, "your boss, what's his name…Gideon, yeah, that's it, I have to ruin all the holidays, forever, that's his price for brining me back."

"Glad to know that your memory is intact," said the robed demon. It then pulled out a black crystal and threw it at the rift. It shattered like glass and out came Oggie Boogie.

"Alright!" shouted the bug-filled ghost, "I'm back! And badder than ever!"

"Just how are you even worse than before, Oogie?" Jack demanded.

"Like this, old boy," said Oogie Boogie as he clapped his hands. The next thing Nessie and the others knew they were inside a giant, death-trap filled casino.

"Welcome to my ultimate playroom!" said Oogie Boogie as he jumped up to an overhanging roulette wheel that served as a huge chandelier, "where you bet your life for real!" he glared down at Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Nessie, "I hope you kids are fond of gambling, 'cause playing the games is the only way you're getting out of here!" he laughed cruelly.

"What kind of gambling?" Nessie asked.

"My kind of gambling," said Oogie Boogie, "you and me, we play a game, and if you lose, you play the penalty game."

"What's that?" Pence asked nervously.

"You'll find out when you lose, big guy," said Oogie Boogie, "and thanks for offering to play first!" he jumped over to an oversized craps table, "roll the dice if you want to stay alive!"

"I don't think I've ever played this game," said Pence as he walked over to the craps table.

"Then don't!" said Hayner, "if this creepazoid wants to gamble with our lives, then the only way we can win is to not play!"

"If he's a rotten as Jack says he is," said Olette, "then we shouldn't play his games and we should try to get out of here on our own."

"Oh, you're free to go," said Oogie Boogie, "if you can," he pointed to a nearby revolving door, "there's the exit, if you're willing to try."

"You must really be an idiot if you're just going to point out the door," said Olette. She hurred to the revolving door, but when she tried to go out, she wound up coming back in, "what the…!" she tried to go out again, but wound up coming back in again, "there's no outside! It just leads back inside!"

"I don't see any other exits!" Will, "we are trapped here."

"Then the only way out is to play," said Pence in a slightly distant tone as he stepped up to the craps table, "but I don't know how to play this game."

"You roll the dice," said Will, "and bet on the outcome of the dice. A 7 or 11 is a winning throw, while a 2, 3 or 12 is a losing throw. Any other number means you keep playing."

"How do you know that?" Nessie asked.

"When your friend and mentor is a scientist who goes to a lot of fundraisers," said Will, "you sometimes go to casinos. I may be underage, but I'm a fast learner."

"Well then," said Oogie Boogie as he placed a set of dice on the table, "looks like you'll be playing next," he looked at Pence, "but first this big boy has to play."

"So I just need to roll a 7 or 11 to win?" Pence asked as he suspiciously looked at the dice.

"You need to roll with one hand and throw the dice hard enough that they'll hit the back wall of the table," said Will.

"We can still figure out another way," said Hayner, "Pence, you don't have to do this."

"I know," said Pence, "but right now I can't think of anything else." he picked up the dice, "either 7 or 11 to win," he then rolled the dice, the two pieces hitting the back wall of the table and landed on 3 and 5.

"Eight," said Oogie Boogie as he pushed the dice over to Pence with a stick, "roll again, tough guy."

Pence rolled the dice again and they came up 4 and 5.

"Nine," said Oogie Boogie as he handed the dice back to Pence.

"Alright," said Pence as he shook the dice in his hand, "this time is the winner!" he threw the dice.

As the dice flew across the table, Oogie Boogie smirked vilely and Nessie sensed a pulse of dark magic in the air. The dice landed and came up 1 and 1.

"Aww, snake eyes," said a viciously grinning Oogie Boogie. He grinned at Pence, "you loose, fatso!"

"Wait!" said Pence, "I…I can try again! I've got the munny." He then angrily glared at Oogie Boogie, "And I'm not fat, I'm big boned!"

"Sorry, tubby," said Oogie Boogie, "but in this house, your munny ain't good. Here you bet with your life! And you've only got one life to bet with, so now you've got to play the penalty game, with this wheel of fortune, or should I say…"

A giant wheel of fortune appeared behind Oogie Boogie, one that had several cruel fates written on it, "…The Wheel of Misfortune!" Oogie then spun the wheel, "whatever it lands on, that's what's gonna happen to you!"

"No!" shouted Pence, "that's not fair!"

"You're right," said Oogie as the wheel slowed down, "it ain't fair." The wheel then stopped on 'Backwards Escalator,' "Oh! This is gonna be good!"

Pence then vanished. Oogie then called up a giant TV screen, which showed Pence falling down an escalator that was going up, so he was endlessly tumbling down, "he'll be like that forever and ever!" at that Oogie laughed cruelly.

"You monster!" shouted Olette, "bring him back, now!"

"Sorry, toots," said Oogie, "but in my house, whatever The Wheel lands on, that's your fate."

"You bring him back!" said Olette as she aimed her staff at Oogie Boogie, "or I'll…"

"You want him back so badly?" Oogie Boogie asked as he jumped across the room to a large a poker table, "then you got to win him back. Win and you all go free. Lose, and you got to spin The Wheel."

"Don't do it!" said Hayner, "I think he's cheating!"

"He is cheating!" said Nessie, "I sensed it. I don't know exactly how he did it, but he used dark magic to make Pence lose."

"You fiend!" shouted Sally, "in what world is that fair sportsmanship?"

"Who said anything about sportsmanship?" Oogie Boogie asked, "don't you know anything? In gambling, the house always wins!" he laughed, then looked at Olette, "so what's it gonna be, little lady? You in or out?"

"This game I actually know," said Olette as she walked over to the poker table, "I happen to be a pretty good poker player, so I'm in."

"Splendid!" said Oogie Boogie as he and Olette stood at opposite ends of the table.

"Okay then," said Olette, "what game will it be? Texas Hold 'Em?"

"I prefer 5 Card Stud," said Oogie as a Neo Shadow wearing a white shirt and bow tie appeared at the dealers area and a shoe of cards appeared.

"We can still figure out something else," said Hayner, "don't play with this jerk, we'll come up with another plan."

"Like what?" Olette asked.

"I don't know," said Hayner, "but I'm still thinking."

"You think, I'll play," said Olette. She then sat at one end of the poker table, while Oogie sat at the other.

"We each have chips that equal 1000 points," said Oogie as a pile of poker chips appeared in front of him and Olette, "first to get all the chips wins."

"Fine by me," said Olette. With that the Heartless dealer then dealt out five cards to the two players.

"The ante is 50 points," said Oogie. He and Olette then put the required amount of chips into the pot and they both looked at their cards. "I'll bet 100," said Oogie as he pushed his chips in.

"I'll see your bet," said Olette as she pushed in her chips, "and raise you 50 more," she pushed in more chips.

Oogie pushed in his chips, then discarded two from his hand. The Heartless dealer then gave Oogie two cards, while Olette also discarded two cards.

"I'll bet another 100," said Oogie.

"I'll see you and raise you another 100," said Olette.

"Oh, you must have something good," said Oogie in a mocking tone, "and little old me, with nothing." Nessie then sensed another pulse of dark magic.

"He's bluffing!" said Hayner, "he's trying to make you over-bet!"

"I know what I'm doing!" said Olette, "alright, Oogie, how about this," she pushed all her chips into the pot, "I'm all in."

"No!" shouted Nessie, "he cheated again!"

"I don't need to cheat," said Oogie as he pushed all of his chips into the pot again, "alright, little girl, what do you got?"

"Full house!" said Olette in a triumphant manner as she laid down her cards, showing the ace of hearts, diamonds and clubs, as well as the ten of diamonds and hearts.

At that Oogie gave a whistle of appreciation, "nice."

"Glad you approve," said Olette as she reached out to claim all the chips, "so why don't you just give Pence back and let me and my friends go now."

"I don't think so, girlie!" shouted Oogie as he laid his cards down, showing the ten, jack, queen, king and ace of spades, "Royal Flush!"

"What the…?" a shocked Olette asked. "how did you…?"

"He must have put a gease on you to make you go all in," said Nessie.

"Why don't you prove that, sugar," said Oogie. He then looked at Olette as the poker table vanished and The Wheel of Misfortune appeared, "now it's your turn to play the penalty game, girlie!" he spun the wheel.

"Wait, how about two out of three?" Olette asked franticly.

"Sorry, no can do," said Oogie as the wheel slowed and stopped on 'Endless Spin Cycle.'

Olette vanished, only to appear on the big TV. She was trapped in a giant washing machine and was spinning round and around so fast she was a blur.

"Oh that's just beautiful!" laughed Oogie.

"You monster!" shouted Will, "I ought to rip you in half!"

"Save a piece for me!" said Nessie.

"Well them," said Oogie as he glared at both of them, "why don't the two of you try your luck?" He then jumped over to a blackjack table with another Heartless dealer.

"You just signed your own death warrant, creep," said Nessie as she sat at one of the seats, "blackjack is the only gambling game that's mathematically predictable. And counting cards is legal if you do it in your head."

"And your mind is fast enough to do it before this jerk can cheat," said Will, "then let's win this."

"Just be careful," said Kirjava, "this monster is tricker than we think."

"We'll be careful," said Nessie. She then glared at Oogie, "you're going down, you sack of bugs!"

"Talk is cheep," said Oogie, "so let's play." With that a sizable amount of chips appeared before each of the players.

The dealer then handed everyone a facedown card, then dealt a face up card. Oogie had a 7, Will had a jack while Nessie had a 9.

Will's facedown card was a 2, while Nessie had an ace. "Hit me," said Will. The dealer gave him a 10, giving him a total of 20.

"I'll stay," said Nessie.

"Hit me!" said Oogie. The dealer gave him a king.

Nessie then felt a pulse of dark magic, but this one hit her and Will at the same time. She blinked and saw that her cards had somehow changed. Her facedown card was a 2 and her face up cards were also 2's.

"He's making us think we need more cards," said Nessie, "Will, don't ask for more."

"Hit me," said Will, who also thought he had only 2's. The dealer then gave him a 3.

"Oh, busted!" said Oogie, "you lose!"

"What!" exclaimed Will as the dark magic wore off and he realized what happened to him, "you bastard!"

"Your cheep mind tricks won't work on me!" said Nessie, "I said I would stay. I've got 19, so what do you have?"

"As if I have to ask," said Oogie as he showed his cards. His facedown card was a 5, "21! I win! Now you both have to spin The Wheel!"

The blackjack table vanished and The Wheel of Misfortune appeared. It spun, "first up is the boy and his cat!" said Oogie as the wheel stopped on 'Human Tetherball!"

"Oh no!" said both Will and Kirjava. They both vanished, only to appear in the giant TV. They were both attacked to tall poles via long ropes and were being bashed around the poles by Defender-type Heartless.

"You sick freak!" said Hayner.

"Sticks and stones won't break my bones!" said Oogie, "'cause I don't have any! Now it's the little vampire's turn!" The Wheel spun, landing on 'Human Pinball.'

"You son of a…!" exclaimed Nessie as she vanished. She appeared in the TV being bashed about inside a giant pinball machine.

"You're the only one left, boyo," said Oogie to Hayner, "then I'll be able to deal with Jack and everyone else in Halloween Town."

"You'll find that I'm not in any mood to play any of your games, Oogie!" said Jack, "let the children go, or else!"

"Why don't you make me, Jack-o?" Oogie asked, "or can you?"

"That's right," said Hayner, "Jack, why haven't you tried to do anything about this mess?"

"Because he can't," said the robed demon as he walked up, "we are in a pocket dimension created by Oogie Boogie, a dimension where his rules are law. Only by defeating him at his games can you pathetic heroes be allowed to walk free."

"That's right!" said Oogie as The Wheel of Misfortune vanished. The giant Roulette wheel then descended from the ceiling, "now it's your turn. You can still save your friends, but if you lose, you're all stuck in your penalties forever!"

At that Hayner's nerve faltered. He stared at the spinning roulette wheel as if it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen, "I…I can't do it! I can't risk my friends like that!"

"You don't have a choice, boyo!" said Oogie, "it's either risk it all, or let your friends suffer forever! So what's it gonna be?"

"You'll just cheat and make me lose!" said Hayner, "I can't play like that!"

"Oh yes you can!" said Oogie as he held up the white roulette ball, "so, place your bet!"

"I won't do it!" said Hayner, "I won't play a game that's impossible to win!"

"Oh you will!" said Oogie in a menacing manner, "or I'll make sure your friends are finished, for good!"

"Hayner," said Jack, "if you can't win at all, then don't play. There's always an alternative."

"Stay out of this, bone man!" snapped Oogie. He then shoved the white ball in Hayner's face, "so what's it going to be, boyo?"

Hayner then saw a lose thread in Oogie's arm. He then smiled as an idea formed in his mind, "alright, Oogie, I'll play."

'That's the spirit!" said Oogie as the two of them walked over to the roulette wheel where a Heartless dealer stood waiting, "now place your bet." He handed the white ball to the dealer.

Hayner looked at the wheel with its red and black squares each marked with a different number. Hayner decided to keep it simble, "I'll bet on red."

"Then black is mine," said Oogie as a Heartless dealer spun the wheel faster and prepared to drop the white ball.

Hayner then focused his ki and grabbed the lose thread on Oogie's arm, wrapped it around the spinning roulette wheel and made it spin as fast as he could. Before everyone knew it, the thread had completely wrapped around the wheel and unraveled Oogie's cloth body, revealing the multitude of insects inside.

"Oh no!" shouted Oogie as his insects began to fall from his body, "not again! My bugs! My Bugs! MY BUGS!"

Hayner then squashed all the scattering insects, his ki-enhanced reflexes ensuring that he destroyed every last bug. Once the vermin were all destroyed, the entire area shimmered and Hayner, Jack and Sally found themselves back outside in the giant pit.

Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Nessie then appeared. They all looked rattled and bruised, even Nessie, but they were all alright.

"I'll never look at a washing machine the same way again," said a very dizzy Olette.

"I'll never look at pinball the same way again," said Nessie.

"I've never played tetherball before," said Will, "now I don't want to at all."

"I'm going to avoid escalators for a while," said Pence.

"I'm just glad you guys are alright," said Hayner.

"We're fine," said Nessie, "but how did you know what do to against that jerk?"

"It just seemed the right way, ripping his seams and squashing his bugs," said Hayner.

"You infidels!" snapped the robed demon, "you ruined Mr. Graves' plan!"

"This guy is starting to piss me off," said Will. He and the others readied their weapons.

"You pathetic heroes think you can defeat me?" the robed demon asked, "well, you're about to get a lesson in failure!"

Just then the moon came up, a full moon to be exact. At that the robed demon smiled viciously, before shouting in agony as its body contorted.

"Now what?" Pence asked.

"I think I know," said a nervous Nessie, "my father explained that Jacob and the other Quilette's weren't werewolves but shape shifters. But there are real werewolves, and I think this demon is one."

"How can a demon be a werewolf?" Olette asked.

As if to answer, the demons' face elongated into a canine muzzle, while its ears lengthened, gray fur sprouted all over its body, it grew fangs and claws, while it grew to a height of 20 ft and sprouted a second set of clawed arms and three more eyes.

"A demonic werewolf," said Jack, "that's new." He smiled, "and oddly inspiring. I just had an idea that'll make next Halloween that much more terrifying."

"You can tell us all later!" said Nessie as she dodged a bolt of dark magic that the giant werewolf shot from one of its eyes, then dodged a claw swipe.

"I just want to go on record that I hate werewolves!" shouted Pence as he threw his fist shields at the creature. The two shields bounced off of the thick hide of the giant werewolf without causing it much pain. The monster then swiped its claws at Pence, but he caught his shields and rolled out of the way.

"How do we stop this thing?" Olette asked as she and Jack blasted the creature with Thunder, Fire and Blizzard spells, but the attacks barely phased the monster. It then blasted the two of them with dark magic, but they got out of the way just in time.

"This is one time I wish I was really a full vampire!" said Nessie as she and the others dodged a furious stomping barrage as the monster tried to squash them, "vampire venom is highly toxic to werewolves."

"You sure?" Olette asked.

"I'm sure," said Nessie, "otherwise I would have killed Jacob when I was still a baby," she blushed slightly despite the dangerous situation, "I sometimes got really impatient back then and I took my frustration out on Jacob. I only bit him because I knew he would heal soon after and that I couldn't turn him into a vampire."

"Well you're dressed like a vampire now," said Hayner as he dodged a dark magic blast, "maybe the costume gives you the power of the creature you're dressed like. I know I feel more like a hero in this armor."

"Same with me," said Pence.

"And this dress and makes me feel like I can ride a broomstick any day of the week," said Olette.

"I feel like creating a monster of my own," said Will.

"Alright, I'll try," said Nessie, "who knows, even if I don't have vampire venom now, I can still rip open a major blood vessel and make the monster bleed to death!" she ran towards the giant werewolf, avoiding dark magic blasts and claw swipes. Nessie jumped onto one of the slashing arms and bit it on the wrist.

The giant werewolf howled in fury and pain as it tried to shake Nessie off but she held on to it, all the while sinking her fangs deeper into its wrist. But the monster slammed her against the pit wall three times, eventually dislodging her. She fell to the ground.

"You okay?" Will asked as he and Olette ran over.

"Never better," said Nessie as she picked herself up. Everyone then saw that the giant werewolf was attacking a bit slower.

"I think it's working!" said Hayner, "Nessie has venom and it's working on the monster!"

"Yeah, but that was one bite," said Nessie, "like a single snake bite," she and the others then dodged a massive barrage of dark magic bolts, "and it looks like this thing has adapted to snake venom."

Just then a laser bolt blasted the monster, knocking it to the ground. Everyone looked up to the rim of the pit to see Dr. Finkelstein, riding atop his Halloween Town Defender. His motorized wheelchair was attached to the top of the robot, encased in a dome of clear protective armor.

"Doctor!" shouted Jack and Sally.

"No one makes trouble with my world and friends and gets away with it!" shouted Dr. Finkelstein as he piloted his robot down to the crater floor, all the while the giant werewolf was getting up. It then shot two bolts of dark magic at the robot, but Dr. Finkelstein pressed a button on his controller that activated a shield, blocking the dark bolts.

Dr. Finkelstein then pressed the button that fired several pumpkin bombs at the giant werewolf, knocking it to the ground again.

Nessie then ran up to the monster and bit it on its left leg, injecting more vampire venom into it. The creature howled in agony again as more venom pulsed through its dark veins.

"And here's the finisher!" shouted Dr. Finkelstein as he pressed a combination of buttons. The robot opened its steel jaws and revealed a giant missile launcher. It locked onto the werewolf and fired. The missile hit the monster and exploded.

When the smoke cleared, the giant werewolf had reverted to its humanoid demon form. Yet it was barely alive as its veins were distended from the vampire venom coursing through it.

"You insolent bastards!" snapped the demon, "you think you've won? Well you haven't! Mr. Graves will avenge my death!"

"Let me tell you something," said Nessie, "Gideon only cares about himself. He'll write you off as just an expense. The same goes for all of his employees. And I'll bet that that selfishness is what's going to get him killed, if I don't kill him first!"

The demon would have said more, but then the vampire venom did its job and killed it. It then dissolved into slime.

"And that's that," said Jack, "the holidays are safe again."

"For now," said Nessie. She then looked at Jack, "Gideon isn't gonna let this go. If he really wants to destroy the holidays, then he's gonna send more of his toadies here."

"Then we'll be ready for them," said Dr. Finkelstein as he directed his robot to kneel down and his wheel chair rolled down an extended ramp, "this little wonder of mine is only the first. Instead of it being a Halloween novelty, I just now had the idea of having it and others like it to come, to protect our world against The Heartless and other dark threats."

"You know, doctor," said Jack, "that may just work. With a half dozen of these robots, we can protect our world for sure."

Just then Nessie saw three shapes trying to run away from the crater. "Oh no you don't!" she ran over and caught Lock, Shlock and Barrel.

"Hey!" shouted Lock, "let us go!"

"We didn't do anything!" said Shlock as she struggled to break free.

"We're innocent!" shouted Barrel.

"In a pig's eye you are!" said an irate Nessie as she threw the three troublemakers over to Jack.

"You three have caused trouble for this world for the last time!" said an irate Jack.

"They made us do it!" said Shlock, "the demons, they were gonna take our souls!"

"I thought they were going to skin you," siad Pence.

"That too," said Shlock.

"We didn't really mean it, Jack," said Barrel, "honest!"

"As if you three could ever tell the truth," said Jack.

"What are you gonna do to us?" Lock asked.

"I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place," said Jack, "I'm going to send you away from Halloween Town, and place you where you'll never make trouble again. You three are banished, and are to spend the rest of your days in Christmas Town, where you'll make toys until you learn to stop being naughty."

"Christmas Town?" a shocked Lock asked, "but it's cold there!"

"We don't know how to make toys!" said Shlock, "only break them."

"And the only candy they have over there is gingerbread cookies and candy canes!" said Barrel.

"I'm sure you delinquents will adapt," said Dr. Finkelstein.

"I suggest you start packing," said Jack, "you'll be leaving as soon as I smooth things over with Sandy Clause."

"No!" said Shlock as she, Lock and Barrel stubbornly crossed their arms, "you can't make us!"

"We're trick'or'treaters," said Lock, "not toy makers."

"That's for elves," said Barrel, "and they're all losers! We'd rather be dead than make toys!"

"I could arrange that," said Jack, "it'd be easy to scare you three to death. But then you wouldn't have learned your lesson. However, it would be something else if I gave you over to Dr. Finkelstein for his experiments."

"My Halloween Town Defender does need improvement," said Dr. Finkelstein as he powered up his robot, "especially with the targeting computer." He had the robot lock onto the three troublemakers with its weapons.

"Oh no!" shouted Lock, Shlock and Barrel. They then ran for the sewer opening that would take them back to Guillotine Square.

"We'll go!' shouted Barrel, "we'll pack our bags right now!"

"And we'll go make toys for Sandy Clause!" said Shlock.

"Just don't let Dr. Finkelstein use us for target practice!" said Barrel. They ran out of the area.

"Blast," said Dr. Finkelstein as he deactivated the weapons on his robot, "I was hoping to make them earn their keep for once."

"I'm sure you'll have all the targets to practice on, doctor," said Jack.

"Or you can build your own," said Sally.

"Why my dear Sally," said Dr. Finkelstein, "that's a brilliant idea. I'll get right on it! If you'll excuse me, Jack," he then nodded at Hayner, Will and the others, "young ones," he then drove his wheelchair onto his robot again and it climbed out of the crater and headed back to town.

"I think he's going to be alright," said Will, "one scientific mind to another, I think he'll be alright."

"I think everything else on this world's going to be alright," said Nessie.

"I do believe you are right, little vampire," said Jack, "and you and your friends are going to be alright as well."

"I think you're right," said Nessie. "Now, if there isn't another crisis on this world that needs our attention, my friends and I have to go."

"Do you really have to leave?" Sally asked.

"We have to keep going," said Nessie, "Jacob isn't here," she sniffed the air, "There's no sign of his scent, and he would have sniffed me out in a heartbeat. No, he's somewhere else, so we have to go look for him elsewhere."

"And we need to find Sora and the others," said Hayner, "we think they need our help."

"Well when you find him," said Jack, "tell Sora and his friends I said hello and to wish him a happy Halloween!"

"We'll do that," said Pence. Everyone said their goodbyes and Hayner took out his cell phone.

"Vivi," said Hayner, "beam us up." With that they were teleported back up to _The Voyaging Light_.

The second they were on the transporter pad, Hayner, Will, Nessie and the others were back to normal.

"Thank goodness," said Nessie as she felt her teeth, relieved that they were back to their normal length, "I feel like a real person again."

"Haven't you ever dressed up for Halloween on your world?" Will asked.

"My family doesn't practice Halloween like others," said Nessie, "being a creature of myth myself, one sometimes finds it insulting the way humans mess up the facts about you."

"Well as long as you're happy now," said Hayner as they headed for the bridge.

"Oh wait," said Pence as he pulled something out of his pocket, which turned out to be another gold key, but this time the jewels were in a different order than they one they found on Port Royal. "In all the excitement I almost forgot about this."

"Another one?" Olette asked, "just how many of these things are there? And where did you find that?"

"I found it in the crater," said Pence, "after that giant werewolf stomped around, it must have dug it up."

"It must have been under Oogie Boogie's house," said Nessie, "that must have been why we were on that world."

"I thought we were looking for Jacob," said Kirjava.

"We are," said Nessie in a contemplative manner, "but…when I was using Jack Sparrow's compass, I was thinking of both Jacob and the gold key we found in the cave of that Cthulhu cult. Vampires can think of many things at once. I think the compass was pointing to another of these keys, and I think we need to find more of them. Don't ask me why, but I think the keys are just as important as finding Jacob, maybe even more important."

"I'm sorry we didn't find Jacob," said Olette.

"We'll find him," said Nessie in a determined tone, "but if we have to find these keys first, then so be it."

"Well we've got two so far," said Hayner as they reached the bridge, "so where should we go next?"

"According to the map," said Pence as he looked at the holographic display of the worlds, "the nearest world is called Deep Jungle."

"Then that's where we'll go," said Hayner, "Vivi, set course for Deep Jungle."

"Setting course," said Vivi as he programmed the ships' computer, "hyper drive coming up!"

"I just realize something," said Pence as everyone strapped in while the engines came online, "we didn't get to go to Christmas Town."

"I was hoping to meet Santa," said Olette.

"Me to," said Hayner.

"We'll come back and meet him," said Will, "but first we've got strange gold keys to find, and Jacob of course."

"Of course," said Nessie. With that the ship jumped into hyperspace.

**The end of chapter 8.**

Next chapter we switch back to Team Sora as they arrive on a world that they didn't expect to, and also in a different time to boot. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	9. Chapter 9: Diving into Atlantica

Last time found Team Hayner arriving at Halloween Town, where they were overwhelmed by the awesomeness of the world. But then the demons attacked, revealing their plan to revive Oogie Boogie. The vile ghost then trapped our heroes in a twisted casino and forced Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Nessie to gamble for their lives. One by one the gang fell prey to Oogie's sick games, but it was Hayner who outwitted Oogie Boogie and freed the others. The demons had one last ploy to try, but Dr. Finkelstein arrived with his invention to end the crisis. Hayner and his friends departed for the next world with another gold key in their possession.

_(Please note that I've stated before that i've changed the possitions of the worlds in this story. In this chapter i've changed them again, for after such a time period this chapter involves, the worlds will no doubt have greately moved in their orbits. If this doesn't meet with the approvial of some people, please remember that **THIS IS FANFICTION!** Thank you.)_

'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 9: Diving into Atlantica**

"What exactly are we going to do with Hecate's book now that we have it," said Aiden as he, Riku, Sora, Kairi, Tess, Roxas and Naminé, sat in the science lab of The Intrepid Heart as the ship cruised through hyperspace towards Neverland. They sat around a large table and in the middle of the table was the book that they had 'liberated' from Hades.

"I don't know," said Naminé, "I've read part of it. Most of the spells are easy enough to understand, mostly the beginner and intermediate ones. But the really advanced stuff…I can barely make heads or tails of some of it, and I've only scratched the beginning. This book is enchanted so that it holds all the spells in all of magic, and I mean all of magic; the good and the evil."

"Then there really all the dark magic spells in existance in that as well?" Kairi asked.

"Of the worst kind," said Naminé, "and the worst part is that dark magic itself is highly addictive. There's something about it that makes you want to try it. Fortunately I'm smart enough to stay away from it, but others aren't so lucky," she sighed and pushed the book away from her, "this thing is way too dangerous for kids like us to have."

"What about me?" Jacob asked as he, Lyra and Pan walked into the room, "I'm not a kid."

"And I've seen evil at its worst," said Lyra.

"It's still too dangerous," said Naminé. She looked at Sora, "Hades said he got it from a library on Olympus Collesium. I say we turn around and return it to that library."

"We could do that," said Tess, "and get blamed for it's theft in the process."

"We could explain that we didn't steal it," said Kairi.

"And still get blamed regardless," said Riku, "Hades said that he stole it from Athena's library, and the last thing we need is to get another god angry with us."

"We could give it to Merlin," said Sora, "and he could give it back to the gods."

"That's a good idea," said Kairi, "but what are we going to do with it until then?"

"I can answer that," said Sidney. She then looked at one of the walls and a safe with a highly complex locking mechanism materialized, "this safe is keyed to the DNA of this ship's crew. Only fingerprints, retinal scans and voice prints will open it."

"You're awesome, Sidney," said Sora as he took the book and placed it into the safe, then closed and locked it.

"Okay, now that that's taken care of," said Roxas, "Naminé and I are going to rest for a while."

"Enjoy your nap," said Kairi.

"Will do," said Naminé. With that she and Roxas went back into the hears of Kairi and Sora.

"So now what?" Lyra asked as they left the science lab and headed for the bridge.

"We go to Neverland and say hello to Tinker Bell," said Sora.

"Exactly what should we expect from this Neverland we're going to?" Jacob asked as they reached the bridge.

"Lots of pirates, fairies and lost boys," said Sora, "and a huge crocodile."

"How big is huge?" Tess asked, "I've seen some large monsters on Metamore, but how big are we talking about here?"

"Big enough," said Riku.

"This crocodile ate Captain Hook's hand," said Sora, "and the croc liked the hand so much he wants to eat the rest of him. I wonder if he's eaten Hook by now?"

"It'll be the first thing we ask Tinker Bell when we get there," said Kairi, "after you thank her for the pixy dust of course."

"And apologize for being so late," said Aiden.

"I know," said Sora.

Just then the ship jolted slightly, as if it ran over a speed bump.

"What was that?" Lyra asked.

"It felt like we just rand over a speed bump," said Riku.

"Impossible," said Sidney, "there's no speed bumps in hyperspace," she closed her holographic eyes, "running diagnosis on scanners."

"There's nothing wrong with the ship," said Riku as he checked for damages.

"And nobody's hurt," said Kairi, "so I guess we're okay."

"I don't know," said Aiden in an unsure manner, "I have a feeling that there's more to that bump than just a hiccup in space."

"Well we'll worry about it later," said Sora, "we're almost at Neverland."

Just then the ship emerged from hyperspace, "alright," said Sora, "Neverland should be right up ahead."

"Uh, Sora?" said Aiden in a concerned tone as he looked at the scanner, "I think we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Sora asked.

"The Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey kind," said Aiden, "according to the external sensors, we've jumped into the future."

"What?" Sora, Riku, Kairi, Tess, Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra, Pan and Sidney all shouted.

"That's what the scanners are telling me," said Aiden as he pointed to the computer screen, "when we came out of hyperspace, we emerged approximately 15 years into the future."

"He's right," said Sidney as she opened her eyes after finishing her self-diagnosis on the ship, "we have gone forward into the future."

"Oh man," said Sora, "now I know Tink is gonna be upset. We're 15 years late in thanking her for the Pixy Dust."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that," said Riku as he checked the navigational data, "we're not in orbit around Neverland. In fact, if I'm reading this right, we're above Atlantica."

"How'd that happen?" a surprised Sora asked.

"Isn't that were you guys got turned into fish people?" Tess asked Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Merfolk actually," said Sora, "or at least I was a merman."

"We were fish," said Goofy.

"You were a turtle and i was an octopus," said Donald get it right.

"But how did we wind up in orbit around this world and not Neverland?" Aiden asked, "it's one thing to jump into the future, but to end up somewhere else in location as well?" he sighed, "I am so confused."

"Our location hasn't really changed," said Sidney, "we did arrive at the desired coordinates in space, but 15 years later than when we expected."

"Of course," said Kairi, "the worlds move, so it's natural to assume that their orbits change over time."

"So after fifteen years or so, Atlantica will be where Neverland was," said Sora, "but where's Neverland now?"

"I'm more worried if we can get back to our own time," said Jacob, "this the kind of thing that shouldn't happen to a wolf."

"Or a Pine Martin," said Pan.

"This reminds me all too much of when I was traveling the worlds with Will Parry," said Lyra, "the Subtle Knife could cut through universes. The world would change but its location would usually stay the same."

"I'm double checking the sensor logs," said Sidney, "apparently that bump in hyperspace we felt, it was in fact a space-time anomaly that sent us into the future. Assuming my data is correct, the anomaly will remain stable for several days, at least a week. If we were to reverse course back to Olympus Coliseum, we would return to our proper time by passing back through the anomaly."

"But in the meantime we should check out the world we're over now," said Jacob, "Nessie could be down there."

"And then there's these keys," said Kairi ass he held the one that was found on The Land of Dragons, while Aiden held the one found in the Underworld.

"We could go see how Ariel and Eric are doin'" said Goofy.

"We've got a week until the anomaly goes away," said Donald, "let's see how our friends are."

"I am eager to try out being a mermaid again," said Kairi.

"Not me," said Riku, "you guys have all the fun you want underwater, I'll stay a biped, thank you very much."

"Well we can't stay up here," said Tess, "that would be boring, and we do have a few days before that time window…thing, goes away, so we might as well explore."

"You sound like you want to grow fins and a tail," said Riku.

"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea," said Aiden in a contemplative manner, "I'm in an adventures mood, and growing fins and a tail sounds like a grand adventure to me."

"Not to me," said Jacob, "it's bad enough that I can turn into a wolf, so turning into a fish has no appeal for me."

"Me neither," said Lyra, "it's not that I don't like the water, but the Alethiometer doesn't."

"It's not water proof?" Kairi asked.

"I've never had the chance to find out," said Lyra, "but I have no desire to test that out either. So if it's alright with you lot, I'll be staying on dry land."

"Well there's dry land down there where we can transport to," said Riku, "we'll start there."

"Just a moment," said Sidney, "I want to double check the systems before you use the transporter. That time/space anomaly may have caused damage that I may have missed."

"She has a point," said Kairi, "when dealing with Timey-Wimey stuff, you can't be too careful."

"Thank you," said Sidney. She closed her eyes as she ran the diagnosis on the ship, "uh-huh, yeah," she opened her eyes, "everything seems to check out. It's safe to go down, but keep an open com line in case you need to beam back up here in a hurry."

"I've got that covered," said Riku as he held up his cell phone, "I just put the ship on speed dial."

"And we've got our new armor to protect us," said Sora as he held up his red wrist watch, while Kairi, Riku, Aiden and Tess held up theirs.

"Well just be careful," said Sidney.

"We will," said Kairi as they all headed for the transporter room, got onto the transporter pad and beamed down.

"Oh dear," said Sidney to herself, "I should have told them about the polluted areas in the ocean. They might have wanted to know about that." She shrugged, "oh well, they'll figure it out soon enough."

The next thing Sora and the others knew they were on a long, white beach next to a wide blue ocean with the waves lapping along the shore. And standing on the edge of the waves, just above the tide line, was a woman in her early 30's with long red hair, blue eyes and wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt.

The woman looked very familiar to Sora, "Ariel?" he asked.

The woman looked at our heroes and recognized some of them with a smile on her face, "Sora? Donald? Goofy? Is it really you? After all this time!"

"It's us alright," said Sora as he and the others walked over to the woman, Ariel, "but it was…what…a few months ago when we beat Ursula."

"That was fifteen years ago for me," said Ariel, "and you haven't changed a bit." She then saw Kairi and the others, "and who are these guys?"

Sora then introduced Kairi, Riku, Aiden, Tess, Jacob, Lyra and Pan to Ariel.

"I'm glad you found your friends," said Airel. "and made a whole lot of new ones."

"I'm glad to have them," said Sora, "but, Ariel, what are you doing here on dry land as a human?"

"I married Eric," said Ariel, "and of course, if I was going to live among humans, I had to be one, for real."

"Oh, so your father used his powers to turn you into a human," said Sora, "for real. And now you're with Eric, but where is he?"

"Right here," said a man in his early 30's who came walking towards our heroes. He was tall with short, jet back hair and wore a white shirt and black pants over boots.

"Good to see you again, Sora," said Eric, "and with two legs for once. Though I wish your fiends could have shown up after so long a bit sooner, we could have really used your help."

"Why?" Sora asked, "what's happened?"

"What happened on Melody's birthday is said and done," said Ariel, "the trouble going on now is what we need to worry about."

"What trouble?" Kairi asked, "and who's Melody."

"That would be me," said a girl, about 13 or so, who looked like a younger version of Ariel, except for her jet black hair. She wore a blue and white dress as she walked up to our heroes, "I'm these guys daughter," she casually pointed to Ariel and Eric, "and you guys," she pointed to Sora, Donald and Goofy, "you must be the guys who helped my mom way back when."

"This is Melody," said Ariel, "as you can see, she got my adventurer spirit."

"And your knack for trouble as well," said Eric affectionately.

"I've been good lately," said Melody, "I haven't started any trouble in either the sea or on land." She then saw Lyra and Pan, "oh, what a pretty Pine Martin. Is he yours?"

"I should hope so," said Lyra as Pan jumped down from her shoulder, "I'd be nothing without Pan."

"And I wouldn't even exist without Lyra," said Pan.

"Oh my goodness!" said an awestricken Melody, "you can talk!"

"Of course I can talk," said Pan, "all daemons can talk. I am Lyra's soul, so no touching me."

"It's the most powerful, unwritten taboo on my world," said Lyra.

"Oh," said Melody, "well, I don't know about souls that look like animals, but I can talk to sea creatures, I always could."

"Really?" said an amazed Lyra, "well then, on my world, there are bears, armored bears, who can talk and wear armor made out of sky iron."

"Wow," said an impressed Melody.

"She's taking the whole 'other worlds' thing rather well," said Sora to Ariel.

"Well of course," said Ariel, "I accepted that there are other worlds easily enough. Anyway, I think we all have some catching up to do," said Ariel, "so why don't we all go somewhere where we can talk."

"That sounds like a plan to me," said Kairi.

A short time later found our heroes at the castle where Ariel, Eric and Melody lived. They settled in a large sitting room and gathered around a huge fireplace. Servants had brought in snacks and a short time later our heroes had given a summarized version of everything that's happened to them so far.

"And now we're going around the worlds," said Sora, "seeing how things are."

"But Maleficent is after us," said Kairi, "me and Aiden. And the demons are after this Talisman, whatever it is, but all we've found so far are these keys," she held up hers and Aiden held up his.

"Those kind of look familiar," said Ariel, "I think I've seen something like them before."

"Well if you remember what it is, tell us," said Jacob, "and have you seen a girl, about 15 or so with pale skin, chocolate brown eyes and curly bronze hair? Answers to the name Nessie?"

"Never seen or heard of her," said Melody.

"Oh," said Jacob, "so she's not here. I just know she's in trouble. She can handle herself in just about anything, but still…"

"I know how you feel," said Eric, "being separated from the ones you love, it's almost more than your heart can take."

"Exactly," said Jacob, "oh, before anything else happens, just so you won't freak out, I can turn into a wolf, a big one."

"No," said Melody in an amazed tone, "seriously?"

"You think that's impressive?" Lyra asked as she took out the Alethiometer, "with this, I can answer any question, and the answer will always be the truth."

"But there are some things going on right now that block certain answers," said Pan, "we think it's the enemy jamming it, but we can't be sure."

"Any question, you say," said Melody, "alright, answer this; what did I wish for more than anything else when I was little?"

Lyra moved the wheels on the Alethiometer, position the three smaller hands to the symbols for the desired question, then went into her trance as the larger hand moved about the face of the device. After a minute or so, Lyra came out of her trance and looked at Melody, "you wanted to explore the sea, to experience all the wonders it had to offer, and most of all, to see real mermaids."

"But your mother is a mermaid," said Aiden, "at least that's what Sora said."

"If she's a mermaid," said Tess as she pointed at Ariel, then pointed to Melody, "then that makes you half and half."

"It's a long story," said Ariel, "it started after Sora and his friends left after we defeated Ursula."

"Oh, that reminds me," said Kairi, "Ursula's alive, and we fought her twice and she got away each time."

"You're joking," said Ariel in a serious tone, "please tell me that that evil witch isn't alive."

"I wish we were joking," said Riku, "but last we heard, Ursula was placed on ice for messing up too many times, so we won't have to worry about her."

"That's a relief," said Ariel, "so, after you guys left, my father, King triton, he saw how much Eric and I loved each other. My father finally accepted humans to be good for the most part, so he granted my wish; he used his powers to make me human and Eric and I were married, and a year later Melody came along.

"We all took a ship out to the middle of the sea so I could introduce my daughter to all my friends from under the sea. Everything was going great. My father and sisters were there, as was Sebastian and Flounder, oh, he has a family of his own now."

"Flounder got married?" Sora asked, "that little guy? Who would have thought of it?"

"I was just as surprised when I found out," said Ariel, "anyway, everything was going perfectly with the celebrations, when something terrible happened."

"You think Ursula was evil?" Eric asked, "well, she's nothing compared to her psychotic sister, Morgana."

"Ursula has a sister?" a surprised Kairi asked.

"A crazy sister," said Melody, "believe me, I met her; she's completely out there."

"Morgana tried to kill Melody when she was just a baby," said Ariel, "but we stopped her. My father then cursed Morganna, depriving the witch of almost all of her power. But she had enough magic to put a curse on Melody."

"If I ever stepped into the ocean," said Melody, "she would eventually know about it and come kill me. Grandfather Triton then ordered that Morgana be hunted down, but she hid out in the ice cap for a long time and nobody could find her."

"We had to take Morgana's threat seriously," said Eric, "so we isolated ourselves from the sea, which included building a wall that would stop our daughter from even seeing the water outside."

"But unfortunately," sighed Ariel, "she is my daughter after all. One thing lead to another, with Melody learning about mermaids and she running away from home."

"How else was I supposed to react?" Melody asked, "I just learned that mermaids were real and that my family was keeping this huge secret about me. Well, okay, I overreacted. Anyway, to make a long story short, I took a boat out onto the water to find the merfolk, and getting totally lost by the way.

"But then Morgana's shark minion told me that Morganna could help me. I didn't know what I was getting into when I met the beanpole of a witch. But she got me hook line and sinker when she offered to turn me into a mermaid. Being the impressionable young girl that I was, and considering how upset at my parents I was, I took the deal, and bang! I was a mermaid. But then Morganna had to turn things around by saying that the spell would wear off in 3 days."

"Which is exactly what Ursula did to me," said Ariel, "turn me into a human for 3 days. I had to pay the price up front, but Morgana was willing to work on credit."

"She said that she could make the change permanent," said Melody, "but I had to get something for her, something that would restore her powers so she could make me a mermaid forever; _The _Triton."

"You mean that big pointy thing Ariel's father has?" Goofy asked.

"The same thing," said Ariel, "but we didn't know it was all part of her plan for revenge. As for me and Eric, we just wanted our daughter back. So while Eric searched above the waves, I asked my father to turn me back into a mermaid so I could look for Melody under the waves, and that's when I found out that Flounder was married, with children no less."

"Well good for him," said Sora, "if anyone deserves to be happy, it's Flounder."

"You can tell him that when you see him," said Ariel, "but to continue. Morgana manipulated things so that Melody stole the triton from my father's house. Only someone in the family can take the triton, and then give it to someone else."

"So that's why Ursula didn't try to steal it outright," said Sora.

"It probably would have been beneath her anyway," said Riku.

"One thing lead to another," said Ariel, "leading to Morgana getting the triton and Melody trapped underwater when the spell wore off. Some friends she made got her up to the surface before she drowned. By then Morgana had asserted her power over every living creature in the sea, and we were helpless against her."

"But she forgot that I was human again," said a grinning Melody, "I grabbed the triton from her, threw it to my grandfather and he froze her in a block of ice, which sank beneath the waves, never to be seen again."

"That's when both humans and merfolk agreed to live together in peace and harmony," said Eric, "but that may soon change for the worse. Not only have The Heartless come back, but something's destroying the sea."

"Destroying the sea?" Sora asked.

Just then Riku's cell phone rang, he answered, "it's Sidney, she wants to talk to all of us," he activated the spear phone option.

"Sorry I forgot to tell all of you about this," said Sidney, "the oceans are being polluted by an as of yet unknown source. And according to my scans, it's getting worse all the time."

"Polluted?" Aiden asked.

"That's what I just told you!" said Sidney, "you fleshlings really need to listen. Anyway, the sources of the pollution, while I can't be 100% certain, seem to be coming from underwater, and from what I can tell, the pollutants are derived of artificial chemicals. Hang on…analysis of the chemicals are complete; they're industrial waste."

"So someone or something is dumping industrial waste into the sea?" Kairi asked, "what kind of sick bastard would do that?"

"The villain kind," said an irate Jacob, "this has Gideon all over it. I heard that he was into all sorts of unscrupulous business deals. He'd do anything to turn a profit, even pollute an entire world."

"Well that's just not going to happen," said an irate Tess as she stood up, "I spent five years as a vigilante killer, so I know an injustice when I see it. Whoever or whatever's responsible for polluting this world is gonna get it," she pulled out her razor, "one way or another."

"I wish you'd get rid of those things," said Aiden, "you're starting to creep me out."

"Sorry," said Tess as she pocketed her razor, "I happen to like them."

"She is right about one thing," said Riku as he and the others stood up, "this world is in danger, and it's our responsibility to make sure that the worlds are kept safe, either from Heartless, demons, villains or wicked men who just want to make money."

"I had a feeling you'd say that," said Ariel, "but I'm glad that you're here to help."

"Anytime, any place," said Sora.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Eric asked as he stood up, "I'll have my ship readied at once."

"If we're going to stop the pollution," said Ariel as she and Melody stood up, "then we're going to have to stop it at its source, underwater."

"And you know what that means?" said Melody in an eager tone.

"I think I know," said Sora, "and if I'm right, then we're ready…"

"Willing…" said Donald.

"And able…" said Goofy.

"What are you guys talking about?" Aiden asked.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to breathe underwater?" Kairi asked.

"Uh, no," said Aiden, "why? Wait…oh, you mean becoming merfolk."

"Exactly," said Melody.

* * *

><p>…New Hollow Bastion…<p>

"It's confirmed, sir," said a lesser demon to The Negotiator, "the Keyblade Wielders and their companions are on Atlantica. It's only a matter of time before they discover our operations there."

"Has Matthew Pattel been informed?" The Negotiator asked, "this pollution opperation was his idea after all."

"I'm afraid we have not been in contact with Matthew Pattel for some time," said the lesser demon, "he is not answering his Mobile."

"That irresponsible idiot!" snapped The Negotiator, "I asked Mr. Graves to keep a tighter leash on his pets. I'm going to send Mr. Graves a memo right now about this," he began composing said memo on his PDA.

"What are we to do, sir?" the lesser demon asked, "we know where the enemy is and have the resources to destroy them, while also grabbing Kairi and Aiden, but there's no one to direct our efforts, not if Matthew Pattel is unavailable."

Just as The Negotiator sent his memo to Giden, an idea struck the administrating demon, "we get someone who knows the world and its people, a Villain who can do what needs to be done, and do it right, or else."

"Who then?" the lesser demon asked.

"It all depends on how much Maleficent wants to keep our potential problem solver punished," said the Negotiaotor. He then walked to Maleficents throne room.

"I need to ask you for a favor, great one," said The negotiator as he bowed, "I need you to thaw out Ursula."

"Do you now?" Maleficent asked, "and what purpose do you require the fat one to be thawed out?"

"I need her to take out our enemies," said The Negotiator, "my sources tell me that The Keyblade brats are on Atlantica and I need someone who knows the layout of the world."

"Isn't there someone already there from your collective?" Maleficent asked.

"We do have a high-level operative on the world," said The Negotiator, "but he's not answering our pages. Therefore I need someone who can do the job properly."

"But then there's the fact that Ursula has shown nothing but failure against The Keyblade Wielders," said Maleficent, "if I were to send her against our enemies, she would most likely be destroyed, permanently this time."

"That's a distinct possibility," said The Negotiator, "but circumstances call for someone who knows the territory. I am willing to take a risk, being that we know exactly where our enemies are, so this maybe our best chance to capture the two brats you want, and you do want Kairi and Aiden, right?"

"I need the Keyblade Alchemist," said Maleficent, "he holds the identities of the remaining princesses of Heart in his unconscious mind. And your master, Gideon Graces, he desires the girl, Kairi, so yes, they must be captured at all costs!"

Maleficent then used a spell that teleported from the castle dungeons a huge block of ice, and in that block of ice was Ursula, frozen with an expression of shock on her face.

Maleficent then blasted the ice block with green flames, cracking the block open and freeing Ursula, who apparently had not registered the passing of time since she was frozen, "what the..?" she looked around in confusion, "what happened?"

"It appears that you've been paroled from your punishment, Ursula," said Maleficent.

"You," said an irate Ursula as she glared at Maleficent, "you think you can get away with putting me on ice? Well think again, sister!"

"I wouldn't be so hasty to seek vengeance just yet," said The Negotiator, "especially when you're fresh out of the box."

"Who are you?" Ursula asked.

"I am The Negotiator," said the demon, "I represent Mr. Gideon Graves, whom has been conducting business deals with Maleficent, and I have a business proposition for you, Ursula."

"Really," said Ursula, "and what do you have that I would want? And what do you want in return?"

"I offer you both freedom and revenge," said The Negotiator, "freedom from Maleficent's punishments, and revenge on the ones who caused you to fail in the first place."

"You think I want to go up against Hades?" Ursula asked, "that ember-face really screwed things up at the tournament. I would have had everything taken care of with that girl that I turned into a Heartless, but thanks to Hades being shackled to me, everything went belly up."

"Hades is out of the picture for the time being," said The Negotiator, "I'm speaking of The Keyblade Brats, as well as a certain little mermaid."

"Oh, the brats and Ariel," said Ursula in an intrigued and eager tone, "what about that beefcake, Eric, is he on the agenda as well?"

"Him to," said The Negotiator, "and if my information is correct," he checked his PDA, "and it is, their daughter, Melody, as well."

"A daughter?" Ursula asked, "I've only been gone from that world for only a little while, so…"

"A curious impossibility has occurred," said The Negotiator, "A quirk in the fabric of space and time has formed around Atlantica; all attempts to arrive at a certain point in the realms causes the traveler to arrive on Atlantica, yet fifteen years into the future, at which point Ariel and Eric are happily married with a teenaged daughter."

"What about my loon of a sister," said Ursula, "Morgana?"

"Last our intelligence heard," said The Negotiator, "she was also frozen in a block of ice, by King Triton."

"Oh that miserable bearded bastard!" snapped Ursula, "nobody messes with my family! Show me the portal back home! I'm going to rescue my sister and ruin things for that little mermaid, her and her precious family, both mer and human!"

"Not so fast!" said Maleficent, "there is still the issue of weather or not you are capable of accomplishing this mission. I will not tolerate further failure!"

"Maleficent, darling," said Ursula in a placating tone, "failure is the last thing on my mind. I'm just going to go mess things up for our enemies."

"Oh, while you're there," said The Negotiator, "find out why Matthew Pattel isn't answering his phone. That dancing dunce is being insubordinate, and Mr. Graves has no tolerance for insubordination."

"I'll look in on him when I see him," said Ursula, "now if you'll excuse me," she summoned a Dark Corridor, "I have a home to go to," she walked through the dark portal, which closed up after her.

"This had better work, demon," said Maleficent, "if she fails, then be it on you to share her punishment."

"Believe it when I say that I hope that she does succeed," said The Negotiator, "for whatever punishment you can conceive, Maleficent, Mr. Graves has something much worse in mind."

"How much worse can your master concoct in his mind that is a match for my ideas?" Maleficent asked, "I am the mistress of all evil!" With that she walked out to her balcony.

"You may be the mistress," said The Negotiator in a hushed tone, "but Mr. Graves, he surely is the master."

* * *

><p>…Atlantica…<p>

"Oh no!" said Tess in a stubborn tone, "no way am I becoming a mermaid, no thank you!"

Our heroes were onboard a large sailing vessel that was several miles out to sea. They were almost to the point were they would meet with King Triton. Donald, having explained to Aiden, Tess, Jacob, Lyra and Pan, that his magic would turn them into mer people, had caused some of our heroes to have reservations.

"But how are you going to fight underwater if you don't have a tail?" Sora asked.

"You'll just have to do without me," said Tess as she stubbornly crossed her arms, "I don't want to go underwater, and I definitely don't want to turn into a fish person."

"Count me out also," said Jacob, "I said before that it's bad enough that I can turn into a wolf, so being a dogfish isn't my idea of a good time."

"I'd rather not be a mermaid either," said Lyra, "besides, I'd rather not risk seeing if The Alethiometer is water proof."

"And I'm stuck in this shape," said Pan as he indicated his Pine Martin form.

"I still say we all need to be together in order to defeat whatever's causing the pollution," said Sora.

"I agree that we'll all be needed," said Riku, "but seriously, on a personal level, the idea of becoming a mer person isn't appealing to me."

Just then Riku's cell phone rang, "it's Sidney again," said Riku as he saw the caller ID. He accepted the call and put it on spear phone, "what is it now, Sidney?"

"My scanners just detected two portals," said Sidney, "one that was just opened up a minute or so ago on an island, just long enough for one person to go through. That's all I can say about that one, that and it was a Dark Corridor and it closed up before I could get a proper fix on it."

"Maleficent just sent someone here," said Riku, "that's got to be it. She knows we're here."

"And she's sure to send her minions after us," said Kairi.

"If they want to kidnap me," said Aiden, "they're going to get a fight they'll never forget."

"They'd better believe it," said Sora, "but what about the other portal?"

"That's something else," said Sidney, "apparently, this one has been activated on the same island as the first Dark Corridor for some time now, at least a whole day now. And there are traces of the pollutant at the site of the portal. And the portal is on an island not too far from where you are, about half a day's sailing."

"I think I know what's going on here," said Kairi, "whoever the baddie is, he's transporting the industrial waste to the world from that portal, then he's dumping it into the ocean."

"Well, I think we need to split into two groups here," said Riku, "half will go underwater and take care of the pollution already there, while the other half will go to the island and stop the pollution at its source."

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Tess, "I call topside team!"

"Second!" said Jacob.

"Third!" said Lyra and Pan at the same time.

"Well I'm going underwater," said Sora.

"Same here," said Kairi.

"I'll stay a biped, thank you," said Riku.

Everyone then looked at Aiden, who had an indecisive look on his face, "now that the moment has come, guys, I'm not so sure."

Just then two shapes appeared off the portside of the ship, two shapes that turned out to be Sebastian and Flounder.

"Ariel!" shouted Flounder, "you've got to come down to the city! It's urgent!"

"What's happened?" Ariel asked.

"It's terrible, child!" said Sebastian, "the pollution, it's ruining everything!"

"What happened to grandfather?" Melody asked.

"He's gone to find the source of the pollution," said Flounder, "but that was yesterday, and he hasn't come back yet."

"Oh man," said Sora, "if King Triton is in trouble, then it is serious."

"Sora!" said Sebastion, "welcome back, mon."

"If anyone can save King Triton, its you and the others," said Flounder.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Ariel asked, "I helped defeat Ursula twice."

"And I helped defeat her crazy sister," said Melody.

"We'll do it together this time," said Sora, "Donald, Goofy, you ready?"

"I was born ready!" said Donald, while Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Then let's go!" said Sora. With that he, Donald and Goofy jumped into the sea. Donald cast his spell the second the hit the water, turning them into creatures of the sea. Goofy was a turtle, while Donald had the lower half of an octopus, and Sora had a blue mer tail.

"I'm definitely ready for this," said an eager Kairi.

"Same with me," said Melody.

"I hope you're both up for this," said Ariel, "I know I am, this was my world."

"You just be careful," said Eric, "we don't know what we're up against this time. It's not like Ursula and Morganna."

"We'll do our best," said Ariel, "just so long as you be careful." With that the two of them embraced and kissed.

"As for me," said Melody, "you all be careful."

"What about you?" Kairi asked.

"I'm the indestructible type," said Melody, "just point me at any danger and I'll come out of it without a scratch."

"Well just so long as you keep your eyes open," said Ariel. She, Melody and Kairi then stood on the rail

The three of them jumped into the water, where Donald's spell turned them into mermaids. Ariel had her green tail and seashell top, while Melody had an orange tail and bage top and Kairi had the same red tail and shell top she had when she briefly changed into a mermaid while our heroes were fighting alongside The Straw Hat Crew.

"I feel like a new girl again!" said Ariel as she swam around.

Melody then did a backflip, "more like coming home again."

"Come on, Aiden!" said a grinning Kairi as she swam on her back, "the water's great!"

Aiden looked around, then sighed, "why not, you only live once!" he stood on the railing and pressed his wrists, "alright, let's do this!" he jumped into the water and was transformed by Donald's spell. When he came up for air he found that he had an indigo tail.

"Huh," he said as he floated around in the water, "having a tail isn't so bad. I guess I can get used to this."

"You'll get the hang of it in no time," said Sora.

"You guys have all fun getting wet," said Tess, "we'll be fine up here."

"We'll take care of the portal on that island," said Riku, "you save Ariel's father!"

"Consider it done!" said Kairi. With that everyone in the water submerged.

"They'll be fine," said Riku, "we've got our own mission to take care off."

"I'm sending you the coordinates for the island," said Sidney. Riku's phone then beeped as it received the message, "good luck to all of you."

"We'll be back aboard the ship in no time," said Riku. The call then ended.

"We can be at the island in a few hours with this wind," said Eric as he looked at the coordinated.

"Then we'd better get started," said Jacob, "so, how do we run this boat?"

"You've a lot to learn about seamanship, my friend," said Lyra as she confidently helped trim the sails.

"Oh, and you're an expert?" Jacob asked.

"I spend many weeks with Gyptians," said Lyra, "we sailed all the way to Lapland so we could rescue all the stolen children from the Gobblers, so me and Pan had to learn fast."

"Forgive me if I say that I don't believe half of your stories," said Jacob.

"You wouldn't be the first one to doubt me," said Lyra, "I've spun a few yarns in my time."

"Those two seem to be getting along," said Tess.

"They do make good friends," said Riku, "but if you look at it right, you can tell that friends is all they'll ever be. Jacob's heart belongs to Renesmee, and as for Lyra, her heart belongs to another as well."

"Makes you wonder," said Tess, "whose heart does yours belong to."

"I'm hoping that I'll find that special someone eventually," said Riku, "maybe she's closer than I realize. You did kiss me after all on that Dalek ship."

"Yeah, we did," said Tess in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "well, I…I thought we were about to die so…"

There was a tense moment between them as they looked each other. They then looked away embarrassed. Tess then cleared her throat, "oh, so, tell me more about this tournament you guys were in before you came to Metamore."

"The Tournament of Light," said Riku, "yeah, it was awesome, and I almost won it, if it weren't for the Villains."

"And just what makes you think you would have won?" Tess asked, "wasn't that Ranma guy the other finalist?"

"I could have beaten him," said Riku stubbornly.

"Oh yeah?" Tess asked daringly, "then how come I nearly cut your throat with my razor that one time?"

"You surprised me, that's all," said Riku as his hand went to his throat where Tess held her razor to not too long ago.

"Well I guess I've got one up on you," said Tess in a teasing manner, "now, tell me about the tournament."

They both knew that sooner or later they would have to deal with their budding feelings for each other, but that was something for later.

* * *

><p>"This is awesome!" said Aiden as he swam loops around Sora and Kairi. "Who would have thought I'd enjoy being a fish man!"<p>

"There's a lot more to being a mer person than just swimming," said Ariel, "it'll take a wile to explain it."

More talking, then they reach the city

"My gods!' said Aiden as they saw Atlantica. The industrial waste had covered over half the city, reducing the once beautiful underwater metropolis to a dump.

"This is horrible!" said Kairi.

"The city, it's…" said a dumbstruck Sora, "it's ruined."

"It's worse than horrible!" said Ariel, "I know everyone who lives there!"

"The king had everyone leave the city before the pollution got so bad," said Flounder, "nearly everyone's safe, but some didn't make it."

"My sisters and their families," said Ariel in a distant tone.

"They're all fine, Ariel," said Sebastian, "your father made sure of that before he went after the source of the mess."

"And now grandfather is in trouble," said Melody, "well, let's go save him and save the world."

"The trail leads towards the northwest," said Kairi, "let's get those evil bastards who think they can destroy a world!" With that they all swam after the source of the pollution.

* * *

><p>Ursula exited the Dark Corridor onto a large platform that was on one side of a recently constructed industrial complex on the beach of an island. Around her were various demons and land-based heartless, all of them in the process of transporting barrels of industrial waste out to a dock, then dumping the barrels into the sea. From there several groups of sea-based Heartless and demons carried the barrels further out to sea.<p>

"Well," said Ursula, "isn't this something."

The demons then noticed that Ursula was there, "good, you know I'm here," said Ursula, "so why don't you go get your boss and we'll have a nice little chat."

"I'm already here," said a tall human male with a red and black rugby shirt under a light tan jacket and blue jeans. He had black hair stylized to one side and wore black eye shadow around his eyes and sideburns.

"Matthew Patel I assume," said Ursula.

"That's right," said the Villain, Matthew Patel, "and judging from your purple theme you have going, you are Ursula," he snapped his fingers, (insert finger-snapping sound) and several demons hastily brought over a table with a built in umbrella, two chairs and a tea service.

"At least you didn't make fun of my weight," said Ursula as she and Matthew sat down and a demon served them tea, "Maleficent and the others back at the castle think it's funny to insult me."

"I would never insult a woman based on her weight," said Matthew, "her dancing skills, or lack thereof, maybe, and then there's their singing talent, or again lack thereof, but never her weight."

"I do believe I'm starting to like you, Mr. Patel," said Ursula as she and Matthew sipped their tea. Another demon then brought over a platter of snacks, or, the kind of snacks that Ursula was fond of, "ah, still alive I see," she said as she took up a squirming insect and ate it, "and perfectly crunchy."

"I always try to please when I have company," said Matthew, "now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Two things," said Ursula as she ate a whole snail, "first, that pinstriped demon, The Negotiator, he's not happy that you're ignoring him."

"Oh, that's easily explained," said Matthew as he pulled out his Mobile and showed it to Ursula, revealing that there was only one bar on the antenna and that bar kept flickering, "the reception on this world is terrible. That time/space anomaly that caused us to arrive fifteen years into the future is also disrupting communications."

He pocketed his cell phone and sipped his tea, "that Negotiator thinks he's the top dog, answerable only to Gideon. Well if he's so smart, he should have realized that starting an operation on a world that's experiencing a time flux would obviously disrupt communications. This operation was my idea to begin with, but that pinstriped minion should have gotten me a better communication system. Still, it can't be helped. We're too far into the plan to stop now."

"Well then," said Ursula, "I'll be sure to pass along you complaints to pinstripes."

"You might do it quickly," said Matthew, "that time warp won't last forever. My calculations say that it will dissipate within five days. That's why my associates here are working feverishly to offload all the cargo."

"Exactly why are you dumping toxic waste into the sea?" Ursula asked, "not that I don't mind your polluting Atlantica and ruining the lives of all those pathetic mer folk, but why all that garbage?"

"It could easily be any pollutant," said Matthew, "It's just that Gideon made a deal with several factories to get rid of their waste products, and disposing of it on another world seemed most cost effective to him."

"Makes sense to me," said Ursula, "now, as for my other reason for being here; revenge. I'm going to destroy not only that little mermaid Ariel and her brood, but also the Keyblade brats, all the meddling fools who ruined things for me."

"Oh, the Keyblade Wielders," said Matthew, "I had hoped to go up against them. I can guarantee that their so called abilities will be no match for my mystical powers."

"I'd still like a piece of the action," said Ursula.

"Of course," said Matthew, "and of course, you want to save your sister, Morgana."

"How did you…?" Ursula asked.

"I did my homework," said Matthew, "and you can relax, I already freed your sister from her frozen prison. She's been helping me with the toxin disposal, as well as keeping the local troublemakers out of our hair, namely, a certain King Triton."

At that Ursula stood up with a stunned look on her face, "you mean you've defeated old Triton?"

"More than defeated," said Matthew, "I've got him lock up underwater. Your sister has been looking after him, making sure that he's 'entertained.'"

"Show me," said Ursula, "I need to see it for myself."

"My associates will take you to your sister," said Matthew, "you'll understand if I stay on dry land. I'm not fond of the water, which is why I'm polluting it."

"Of course," said Ursula.

She was shown to the dock where two manta ray-like demons waited The three of them jumped into the water. Immediately upon hitting the water, Ursula resumed her former shape, with the lower half of her body like an octopus. She and the manta-demons were joined by several Sea Neons and Screwdrivers and two Aquatanks. They swam for several miles, following the path of other heartless and demons as they carried the barrels of industrial waste to Atlantica.

"They're going to open the barrels just outside the city," said one of the manta-demons, "we're going on a slightly different course. Your sister is waiting in a cavern not too far from here."

They broke away from the vile convoy and its despicable cargo and arrived at the mentioned cavern via a tunnel in the seafloor.

In the cavern was Morgana, who looked very much like her sister, with the same octopus-like lower body and purple skin and long white hair. But that's where the similarities ended. Morgana was beanpole thin and had a maniacal expression on her face.

"Well now," said Morgana as she saw Ursula, "if it isn't my long lost sister, back from the dead and from the outside realms. What kept you so long?"

"I was busy, you miserable lunatic," said Ursula, "so, I hear that you've been busy during my absence."

"Oh you'd better believe I've been busy," said Morgana, "first I try to avenge your apparent second death by trying to murder the offspring of that little mermaid you've had so much trouble with. But then I got my mojo zapped by our old friend, Triton, and it took me 12 years to get my mojo back. But then I got frozen alive for several months, by Triton no less, and it was only a few days ago that that charming mystic Matthew set me free to finally get things going on our way. But enough about me, what about you?"

"I spent several months as a human," said Ursula, "going around outside worlds in other universes, spreading darkness wherever I went. But then I got involved with those Keyblade brats again and wound up forced to team up with Hades. Then that BBQ-head of a god seriously screwed up and I got frozen alive as well. I only just now was thawed out so I could save your sorry skin."

"Well you should be glad to know that I'm alright," said Morgana, "and I've got a surprise for you, dear sister."

"You've got Triton," said Ursula.

"How did you know that?" a surprised and disappointed Morgana asked.

"Our mutual friend, Matthew, told me," said Ursula, "now, where's old Triton?"

"He's right over there," said Morgana. She pointed to a corner of the cavern, were a large blue-shelled snail with a long beard and moustache, sat chained to the wall. The snail looked pretty miserable, but then he saw Ursula and his expression turned to that of rage.

"It is Triton!" exclaimed a wildly laughing Ursula, "I know that contemptuous look anywhere!" she laughed madly for a few seconds, all the while the snail, Triton, glared at the two witch sisters.

"A snail," giggled Ursula, "I wouldn't have thought of that," she looked at Morgana, "Only you, dear sister, would have the insanity to think of this."

"I thought you'd like what I did," said Morgana, "I managed to surprise our friend here. He was following the demons and Heartless back to where that interesting man, Matthew, was dumping the garbage into the sea. I happened to be here at the right place at the right time and got behind the bearded fool." she looked at Triton, "you're getting old, Triton! You're not as quick and sharp as you used to be!"

At that Triton's expression darkened to misery again.

"Where's _the _triton?" Ursula asked, "you got the big one, where's the real one? With that triton, our powers would be limitless!"

"Yes, _our _powers," said Morgana in a tone that said she thought otherwise, "it's over there," she pointed to another corner of the cavern, where the golden triton, the source of so much power, lay on the floor like it was an ordinary object.

"Why are you just leaving it around?" an exasperated Ursula asked.

"Well if you want it so badly," said Morganna, "you pick it up."

"I will," said Ursula. She swam over and grabbed the triton, only to back away from it as it shocked her, "what the…?" she tried to pick it up again, only to be zapped again, "what trickery is this!"

"That's why I haven't used it," said Morgana, "it seems our friend turned mollusk," she looked at Triton, who no looked like he was laughing, that is, if snails could laugh, "tweaked his triton so that only someone in the family can touch it at all. I tried to take it when I ambushed Triton. I could barely hold onto it for a few seconds, let alone use it. Fortunately I had my own magic to move it here, and have been trying to break the whammy on it, but no luck so far."

"Yes," said Ursula as she glared down at the triton, "I remember now' only someone directly related to Triton can touch it at all. What if that someone in his family willingly gives it to someone else?"

"I thought of that," said Morgana, "I managed to trick Ariel's brat into giving the triton to me a while back, but that didn't work out. But if I try the same ploy again, get the little bitch to give it to me, or better yet Ariel herself, I doubt that would work at all. No doubt the little mermaid and her whole rotten family would try to rescue the old one, so instead I have to come up with a plan to thwart that rescue."

"Well it's a good thing your sensible sister has finally come home," said Ursula in a loving, yet mocking tone, "I'll help deal with the riff raff."

"Alright then," said Morgana, "you come up with a plan to deal with the brats."

Ursula stood there for a second, but then she had an idea, "I know just what to do. Here's my plan."

* * *

><p>"There they are!" shouted Sora as he and the others saw a group of demons and Heartless swimming towards them, "and they've got the toxic waste!"<p>

"Industrial waste," Kairi corrected.

"It's all garbage to me!" shouted Aiden as he aimed his Keyblade at the approaching baddies and transmuted the water around one of the demons and two of the demons into crystal, trapping them. They sank to the seafloor, where Donald blasted them with a fireball, destroying them.

The other demons and Heartless scattered at the attack, dropping their dark cargo. As Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and Ariel attacked the baddies, Aiden transmuted the barrels of industrial waste into harmless water and rock.

"I just discovered a new application for Alchemy," said a grinning Aiden, "recycling."

"Nice," said Melody, "but not as nice as some other people I know."

She and Aiden watched as Sora, Ariel and the others finished off the group of demons and Heartless, with Sora stabbing the last demon and Ariel smacking the last Screwdriver with her tail.

"I really missed this," said Ariel after the area was clear of baddies, "fighting alongside my friends against evil."

"Some things never change," said Sora.

"I think I'm getting the hang of underwater combat," said Kairi.

"We got the hang of it long ago," said Donald.

"We had help," said Goofy.

"We'll talk about that later," said Sora, "those demons and Heartless got that industrial waste from somewhere." The swam in the direction the demons and Heartless came from. They came across two more groups of baddies carrying barrels of industrial waste. They all destroyed the demons and Heartless, while Aiden rendered the poisons harmless.

Eventually they passed by a large cavern. Just then a transparent image of Ursula appeared.

"Oh crap!" said Sora, Kairi and Aiden.

"Oh no," said a shocked Ariel.

"Mother, is that…?" Melody asked.

"That's Ursula alright," said a nervous Flounder.

"Like I could ever forget her," said Sebastian.

"Well, well, well," said the image of Ursula as she smiled viciously, "this is turning out to be quite a day for reunions. First I get thawed out, then I get to go home, and then I'm reunited with my lunatic of a sister."

"What!" Ariel and Melody both shouted.

"Morgana's back!" Sebastian shouted.

"Now would be a good time to swim away," said a nervous Flounder.

Just then the transparent image of Morgana appeared next to Ursula, "now that would be rude. I've got so much to talk about, and you kids want to run away."

"That's Morgnna?" Kairi asked.

"They're definitely sisters," said Aiden, "of opposing extremes."

"What do you want, Ursula?" Sora demanded.

"Do you really have to get down to business so soon?" Ursula asked, "Morgana and I had a whole script of taunting to put you meddling brats through."

"You guys are no fun at all," said Morgana.

"What do you want with us?" Ariel insisted.

"Oh alright," said Morgana, "we'll get down to it. It concerns old Triton."

At that Ariel was struck numb with shock, but she soon regained control of her courage, "what did you do to my father? Tell me!"

"Try and guess," taunted Morgana, "go on, guess."

"What did you do?" Aiden asked, "chain him to a wall or something like in a dungeon?"

"Wong!" shouted Morgana, "try again, hot stuff!"

"But we won't confirm or deny the chains," said Ursula.

"Did you turn him into that worm thing like you did last time?" Sora asked.

"Oh give me a little credit," said Morganna, "unlike my dear sister, I have a much more elaborate imagination."

"You crazy sea witch," said Kairi, "what did you do? Turn Ariel's father into a snail or something?"

"Bingo!" laughed Morgana.

"You monster!" snapped Ariel, "take me to my father, right now!"

"By all means, my dear," said Ursula as she smiled with false kindness, "helping people is what I do." she lead the way into the cavern.

"This has trap written all over it," said Aiden as they followed Ursula.

"We know," said Sora, "but all we can do is wait for them to spring it."

"If they try anything, we'll be ready for it," said Kairi.

But they weren't ready for the sight of King Triton, turned into a snail and shackled to the cavern wall.

"Daddy!" shouted Ariel. The snail that was Triton looked up and his expression brightened at the sight of his youngest daughter.

"Oh, grandfather," said Melody, "what did they do to you?"

"Exactly what I'm going to do to your mother and friends, little princess," said the real Morgana as she and the real Ursula appeared, "unless you do what we say!"

"We've prepared a spell," said Ursula, "one that's saturated the area and will activate when we wish it."

"She's right!" said Kairi, "I can sense it!"

"It's a trap spell!" said Donald.

"And it'll turn you goody-two shoes into snails," said Morgana, "all of you, unless Melody gives us the triton!"

Our heroes then noticed that the shining triton was sitting on the seafloor right next to them.

"If you wicked witches want it so badly then take it!" said Ariel.

"We tried," said Morgana, "but old Triton fixed it so that my sister and I can't touch it. But, we think that if it's given to us, willingly, then we can use it."

"So you lured us here so we could give you the triton?" Sora asked.

"Not you, tough guy," said Morgana, "either Ariel or Melody, and I think it'll be better for everyone if the smaller mermaid did the deed."

"I wanted Ariel to be the one to do it," said Ursula, "but we couldn't decide which would be more humiliating. So we played Rock Paper Siscors and my sister won."

"And now you're going to give me the triton," said Morgana to Melody, "or else you and your mother and friends will end up just like grandpa."

"What about the pollution destroying Atlantica?" Sora asked.

"I actually have very little to do with that," said Morgana, "it's all that fascinating man's doing, that Matthew Patel, who works for Gideon Graves."

"I'm just here for revenge," said Ursula, "so, Melody, are you going to be a good little girl? Or are you a magnet for trouble like your mother is?"

"Don't do it!" said Aiden, "we'll figure out something."

"I'd like to see these psycho sisters try to turn us into snails," said Kairi.

"We'll do it," said Ursula, "and then we'll eat you, raw."

"Can you be any more disgusting?" Sora asked.

"What, do you want me to say I'm going to cook you first?" Ursula asked. She glared at Melody, "so what's it going to be?"

"And you'd better make up your mind quickly," said Morgana, "patience may a strong virtue with me, but I've been patient for long enough."

Sora could tell that Melody had been placed in an impossible position. It was either give the Villains what they wanted and doom the world, or risk losing those she loved. She looked at Ariel in hope that she would tell her what to do, but all Ariel did was give Melody a look that said that she trusted her daughter to do the right thing.

Reluctantly, Melody swam over the triton and picked it up.

"That's it," said Morgana, "now give it to me."

"No," said Ursula, "give it to me."

"Excuse me?" Morgana asked, "this was my plan! I'm the one who ambushed and transfigured Triton! So I should get the triton!"

"I don't think so!" said Ursula, "I've been after that triton a lot longer than you have, sister of mine! And I'm going to get it! Understand?"

"Oh I understand alright," said Morgana, "but I'm the one who's gonna get the goods!"

"No!" shouted Ursula, "I'm gonna get it!"

"I am!" shouted Morgnna,

"I am!" shouted Ursula.

"And I thought Ranma's family was dysfunctional," said Kairi.

"Anyone think this is the right time to try something?" Aiden asked.

"You shut up!" snapped Urusla, "all I have to do is say the spell word and you'll all be snails!"

"Just hand the stupid triton to the both of us," said Morgana to Meldoy, "we'll sort things out later."

"And don't even think about pulling a fast one on us," said Ursula, "any funny business and you'll be the first one with a shell and leaving a trail of slime everywhere."

"Alright," said Melody, "here it is," she handed it to both Ursula and Morgana. But then the second they grabbed the triton, they were both shocked. Sora and the others could see their skeletons flash as the power of the triton rejected the two sea witches.

"Cool," said Sora and the others.

Ursula and Morgana dropped the triton and they collapsed in exhaustion.

"The trap spell has been negated," said Donald.

"That's good," said Sora as Melody quickly picked the triton back up.

"But what happened?" Melody asked as she held the triton, "why did it still shock them?"

"I think I know," said Ariel, "but I know someone who can better explain," she looked at King Triton, "I think someone is in need of a cure."

"Wait," said Aiden, "if we don't know exactly how Morgana turned him into a snail, we could make things worse if we tried to turn him back to normal."

"So what do we do?" Kairi asked.

"I think I know what to do," said Melody. She pointed the triton at her grandfather and a bolt of golden magic shot at him. Within seconds he was back to normal.

"You figured it out, Melody," said King Triton as he straightened his crown, "you already had it when you destroyed the wall that separated the land and the sea; willpower, that is the key to the triton."

"Grandpa!" shouted Melody joyfully as she swam over and embraced Triton.

"Daddy!" shouted Ariel as she joined Melody in hugging King Triton.

"I'm so happy to see you both," said King Triton.

"Oh cry me an ocean," said an annoyed Ursula as she and Morgana picked themselves up.

"You two really know how to spoil the moment," said Sora as he, Kairi and Aiden summoned their Keyblades, while Donald and Goofy got their weapons out.

"Nice to see you and your friends are still meddling in other people's affairs, Sora," said Triton as Melody handed the triton to him.

"A Keyblade Wielder has to do what a Keyblade Wielder has to do," said Sora.

"And what we need to do right now is to take care of these witches," said Kairi.

"Hopefully once and for all," said Aiden.

"That would be lovely," said Morganna, "but I have other plans!" she then shot a spell that produced a large flash and a loud bang that momentarily blinded and deafened our heroes. When Sora and the others could see and hear again, Ursula and Morgana were gone.

"I hate it when the bad guys run away!" said Sora as he and the others swam up out of the cavern and saw Ursula and Morgana making a run for it.

"I'll bet they're heading to where they're dumping the industrial waste into the sea!" said Aiden as our heroes chased after the two fleeing sea witches.

"And that's where we'll finish this horrible mess," said King Triton, "once and for all!"

* * *

><p>"You do realize that this is entirely your fault!" said Ursula as she and Morganna swam for their lives back to the island.<p>

"I was under the impression that this was your fault, dear sister," said Morgana.

"At least I have the intelligence to admit when I'm wrong," said Ursula, "which I'm not."

"You think you're so smart?" Morgana asked, "then how come you got killed twice, then frozen alive. I only got frozen, but I'm still on my first life."

"Well aren't you special," said Ursula in a sarcastic manner. She then looked over her shoulder to see Sora, Ariel and the others not too far behind the two sea witches.

"Look, we can argue until the end of time itself," said Ursula, "but first let's take care of these hoodlums first, okay?"

"My thoughts exactly," said Morgana. They were almost to the island were Matthew was dumping the industrial waste, "I have an idea."

"No!" snapped Ursula, "no more of your crazy ideas!"

"This is a good one," said Morganna, "we let that fascinating Matthew Patel deal with the brats, while we swim free to plot anew."

"That actually might work," said Ursula, "but how are you going to get Matthew Patel to fight Sora and his cohorts?"

"With my feminine charms of course," said Morgana. They then swam up to the surface and were right next to the pier were the demons and Heartless dumped the barrels. Matthew was standing on the pier, looking down at the two sea witches.

"So, you couldn't get rid of the brats?" he asked.

"How did you know?" Ursula asked.

"I have my sources," said Matthew, "when I didn't get a confirmation signal from the last groups of demons and Heartless that they had dumped the stuff onto the mer freaks, I knew something was wrong."

"Well the brats are right behind us," said Morgana in a flirting manner, "and my sister and I would be ever so grateful if you would use your fantastic abilities to take care of the problem."

"You can turn off the charm, I'm immune," said Matthew, "but I'll do it. I'll take care of the riffraff."

"You will?" Ursula asked.

"I had hoped to destroy the Keyblade Wielders," said Matthew, "I hoped that The Negotiator would send me against them, or better yet, the order would come from Gideon directly, so now I get my wish. You two just swim along and leave everything to me."

"I think we should get out of his way," said Morgana, "his mystical powers can cause a lot of collateral damage."

"I won't argue with that," said Ursula. With that she and Morganna swam to the side of the island.

* * *

><p>A few seconds later Sora and the others surfaced next to the pier.<p>

"You guys must be the Keyblade Wielders," said Matthew, "Allow me to introduce myself," he then bowed with an overly extravagantly flourish, "I am Matthew Patel! First of the League of Evil Exes, and it is my pleasure to be your executioner."

"So you work for Gideon Graves," said Kairi, "the maniac who wants to kidnap me."

"Oh, you're Kairi," said Matthew, "well then, I'm glad we've met. Now I get to take you to Gideon," he then saw Aiden, "and you as well, since you're wanted by Maleficent."

"Well you can go back to both of them and tell them that they can eat each other!" said Aiden, "and you can eat yourself as well!"

"Tempting, but no," said Matthew, "you and Kairi are supposed to be captured alive, but the others," he looked at Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, Melody and Triton, "you're all damaged goods."

"I think not, young man!" said a very irate King Triton, "you've spread your poison throughout my kingdom and risked the lives of my people!" he raised his triton, "and for what? What possible reason would you have to destroy my world!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Matthew asked, "to make money. The factories pay Gideon to get rid of their trash, and we clean up."

"Well you had better clean the mess you had made," said Triton, "or else."

"I'll take else," said Matthew, "so give me your best shot, old man!"

"Gladly!" said King Triton as he aimed his triton at Matthew and blasted him with gold energy. Matthew merely raised his hand and blocked it with a shield of red fire.

"Is that all you've got?" Matthew asked, "'cause I have other things I need to do today."

Triton blasted Matthew again, but the vile human blocked the gold energy with another shield of fire. "Is that all? Then it's my turn!" he then shot several fireballs at Sora and the others. They tried to get out of the way by diving underwater, but the fireballs followed them down and exploded, the force of the detonations disabling our heroes. They all floated up to the surface, alive but unable to move.

"This was too easy," said Matthew as he directed several Heartless to fish Kairi and Aiden out of the water, "I expected a bigger challenge from the brats, but, then again, never look a gift horse in the mouth."

"It's the brats who are at fault," said Morgana as she and Ursula swam over, "they think they're so special, well, they're not."

"I've been waiting to see this for a long time," said Ursula, "to see the brats who ruined everything for me brought down. The only way this could be better is if I were the ones who actually did it."

"You and Morganna can finish the others off," said Matthew, "but the boy and girl that Maleficent and Gideon asked for," he pointed at Kairi and Aiden, "they're coming back with me."

* * *

><p>"They haven't seen us yet," said Eric as the ship sailed closer to the island.<p>

"But we can see them," said Riku as he, Tess, Jacob and Lyra saw through spyglasses what happened to Sora and the others, "they're in trouble."

"Doesn't this boat have cannons?" Jacob asked.

"We're too far away to make a difference," said Eric, "and even if we were close enough, we'd risk hitting Ariel, Sora and the others."

"Where's Usopp when you need him," Riku muttered.

"Who?" Tess asked, "oh wait, he's one of those pirates you met, the sharpshooter with the needle nose."

"How are we going to save our friends?" Lyra asked.

Just then Riku had an idea. He pulled out his cell phone and called _The Intrepid Heart_, "Sidney, can you use the transporter to beam Jacob, Lyra, Pan, Tess and myself onto that pier? And could you also transport Eric's ship closer to the island?"

"What am I, a machine?" Sidney asked, "I'm part of a machine, but that's not the same. Look, just give me a minute to calculate how I'm going to do this."

"We don't have a minute!" said Riku, "they're going to take Kairi and Aiden and kill Sora and the others!"

"Oh, you're in a hurry?" Sidney asked, "okay then, hold onto your pants, cause you're about to split."

"Sidney's going to use the transporter," said Riku as he put his cell phone in his pocket, "get ready."

"For what?" Eric asked. The next thing they knew they were all beamed to their separate destinations. Riku, Tess, Jacob, Lyra and Pan were on the pier, while Eric and the ship were about a hundred yards off shore.

"What the…?" exclaimed both Ursula and Morgana.

"Eat this!" shouted Riku as he blasted Matthew with his Dark Aura, while Lyra, Jacob and Tess jumped into the water to help Sora and the others.

At the same time, Eric ordered the guns on his ship to fire on the demon outpost on the island. Several cannonballs exploded among the baddies without doing much damage, but one cannonball hit one of the barrels of industrial waste that had an inflammable sticker on it. The barrel exploded, creating a chain reaction that blew up the other barrels one by one.

The island was then thrown into chaos as the demons and Heartless ran around, trying to avoid the exploding barrels and clouds of toxic gas that were being produced by the fires. Fortunately the wind was keeping the gas from the pier.

"I think we should be leaving now," said Ursula as fragments of exploded barrel rained down around her and Morgana.

"That's probably a good idea!" said Morgana. The two sea witches then dove into the water and vanished.

"You idiots!" shouted Matthew as he used a flame shield to block several fragments of an exploded barrel, "you think you've stopped me? You think this is going to keep us from drowning this world in industrial waste? You think you can stop Gideon from making a profit?"

"I think we're doing a good job already," said Riku.

By then Jacob, Lyra and Tess had revived Sora and the others with Mega Potions and Ethers. Donald then used his magic to turn Sora, Kairi, Aiden, Goofy and himself back to normal. They then all got onto the pier and faced Matthew.

"Ariel, Melody," said Triton, "we should go now."

"What?" Melody asked, "no, we can't go! They're about to fight, they may need us."

"I have to help them, daddy," said Ariel.

"The fight has moved onto solid ground," said Triton, "you'd have to be human to help, Ariel, and as a human, you wouldn't be helping. The best thing we can do is just stay out of their way."

"I still say we can help them," said Ariel.

"And how do you suggest we do that without endangering your daughter?" Triton asked.

"Oh," said Ariel as she realized just what her father was asking. "Your grandfather's right, Melody, we need to leave this to Sora and the others."

"But we can help," Melody insisted.

Ariel was about to say something to the contrary, but then she saw Eric's ship, "I think we can help."

* * *

><p>"So, are we going to do this or not?" Matthew asked Sora and the others.<p>

"Oh we're going to do it alright," said Riku, "just you wait."

"Hold on a second," said Kairi, "if we're all going to be using our armor together, then we need a transformation phrase."

"You mean like in Super Sentai?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, like in Super Sentai," said Kairi.

"That would be so awesome," said Riku.

"What are you talking about?" Tess asked.

"I'll tell you later," said Riku, "so, what kind of henshin phrase do we want?"

"Transform always works," Aiden suggested.

"Power up?" Sora suggested, "or, Key Power Up!"

"How about 'Keyblade Power, Armor Activate!'" said Kairi.

"No, it's got to be simple," said Riku, "how about just '_Henshin!_'?"

"I think that's been done," said Sora, "but it'll do for now."

"That works for me," said Tess. She then pressed the red button on her watch, _"Henshin!"_ she was surrounded by green light and emerged wearing her armor.

"I think we've got our henshin phrase, for now that is," said Aiden as he pressed his wrists, "alright, everyone, let's do it!"

"Right!" said Sora, Riku and Kairi. They and Aiden then said, _"Henshin!"_ as they pressed the red button on their watches. Within seconds they were wearing their armor.

"I don't need armor to fight!" said Jacob. He then phased into his wolf form, while Lyra dew her sword.

"You're going to pay for what you've done," said Sora as he pointed his Keyblade at Matthew.

"I think not!" said Matthew, "prepare yourselves, prepare for your doom!" he then blasted our heroes with massive amounts of fireballs. Sora and the others easily blocked the flames with their Keyblades. Sora then countered with Fireballs of his own, but Matthew dodged them as if they were nothing.

Riku and Kairi then tried a direct attack, but Matthew blocked their Keyblades with his bare hands, then countered with several punches and kicks that forced Kairi and Riku back.

Aiden then tried to transmute the air around Matthew into sleeping gas, but Matthew blocked the alchemic energy with a flame shield, then bashed Aiden in the head with his elbow.

Jacob then tried to leap onto Matthew and bite his head off, but Matthew sidestepped and tossed Jacob into the water, then attacked Lyra, forcing her to drop her sword with one chop to her wrists.

Matthew then delivered a kick to what was apparently empty air, but wound up kicking Tess, who had tried to sneak up invisibly behind Matthew.

"What's with this guy?" Sora asked as he dodged another round of fireballs.

"You losers never stood a chance against me!" said Matthew as he grinned viciously, "your pathetic skills are no match for my mystical powers!" he then waved his right hand in a flourish. Half a dozen female demons, wearing tight skirts and t shirts over their sensual bodies and having bat wings and horns, appeared, "and you're powerless against my demon hypster chicks!"

He and the female demons then blasted our heroes with massive amounts of fireballs. It was all Sora and the others could do to avoid being roasted alive.

"This guy is really starting to bug me!" shouted Aiden.

"How do we stop him?" Tess shouted.

"You can't!" shouted Matthew viciously, "nobody can stop me!"

Just then Eric aimed and fired one of his cannons at Matthew. The cannonball then hit Matthew on the head, not delivering much damage, but hitting him hard enough to break his concentration. The demon hypster chicks then vanished.

"Nobody hurts my friends and family and gets away with it!" shouted Eric.

"Great shot, daddy!" shouted Melody.

Lyra then picked up her sword and rushed Matthew, while Jacob climbed out of the water, shook his furry dry and attacked Matthew from behind. Lyra stabbed Matthew in the side, while Jacob raked his claws across Matthew's back. The two attacks forced Matthew to his knees, but he was still able to fight. However, he had lost his confidence.

"This is impossible," said Matthew, "how can this be?"

Ariel then leapt out of the water and delivered a hard tail kick to Matthew's head, "open your eyes, and you will see!" This had knocked Matthew on his back, yet he was still conscious.

"Nice one, mom!" shouted Melody.

But then Matthew got back up again, "you think you've won! I am the first of the League of Evil Exes! I will not be defeated by a bunch of no talent losers!"

"You're the one without a talent, jerk," said Kairi.

"Oh but I do have a talent!" said Matthew, "my mystical powers are vaster than you think!" He then raised his arms and shouted a spell.

"What did he do?" Riku asked.

"I just used a summoning spell," said Matthew, "I've called forth the biggest Heartless this world has to offer! It should be here right about…now!"

Just then a huge Heartless in the form of a blue and green sea serpent with the embalm of The Heartless on it's head, rose out of the water. It glared down at our heroes and bared its many rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"That is one big, ugly snake," said Aiden.

"Cedric was uglier," said Tess, "and this thing is nothing!" she then jumped onto the back of the giant aquatic heartless, which our heroes would later name Sea Snake, and used her Keyblade like a razor and sliced the monsters throat. It didn't have any blood, but it was severely damaged. It roared in rage as it tried to shake Tess off but she held on.

"Should we help her?" Aiden asked.

"No," insisted Riku, "this is her fight."

"I never said you couldn't!" shouted Tess as the Sea Snake kept thrashing about.

"Then let's get it!" shouted Kairi. She jumped into the creature and stabbed it with her Keyblade. Riku and Sora also jumped onto the monster and stabbed it, while Tess stabbed it again. It took a while but they inflicted enough damage to finish the creature off. It collapsed into the water and dissolved into black smoke, while a blue crystal heart rose and vanished into the air.

The destruction of the Boss-type Heartless left Sora, Riku, Kairi and Tess in the water.

"I didn't know that our armor was waterproof," said Kairi as they swam back to the pier

"When Tron designs something," said Sora, "he really goes all the way."

"Too bad you losers won't live to see anything else!" shouted Matthew as he stood on the edge of the pier with a huge fireball in his raised hands, "I'm aiming to take out the two boys and the one girl. Kairi will survive, but not the others!"

"Oh shut up already!" shouted Aiden as he attacked and slashed Matthew across his back. This, added to his already considerable injuries, was the last straw. Matthew lost his concentration and the massive fireball vanished as he fell to the pier deck and exploded. A small pile of munny was all that remained of the vile human.

"Only 250 munny?" Aiden asked after counting the small prize.

"We've gotten less from bigger enemies," said Sora as he, Riku, Kairi and Tess got out of the water.

"Still, we beat the son of a bitch," said Tess as she and the other deactivated their armor.

Jacob then phased back to his human form, "and we stopped the pollution before it got any worse."

"Said pollution can be cleaned up without too much trouble," said King Triton as he, Ariel and Melody swam over to the pier, "and I suggest you young ones be on your way as soon as possible."

"What? Why?" Sora asked, "we just won."

"We can stay and help clean up Atlantica," said Kairi.

"And the two sea witches are still out there," said Riku.

"But the enemy must know we're here by now," said Tess.

"They do know," said Lyra as she checked her Alethiometer, "that's why they had Ursula set free."

"Any chance that compass of yours can tell where Ursula and Morganna went?" Eric asked.

"Half a moment," said Lyra as she checked her Alethiometer again. "They've gone back north, to the ice caps, to regroup and plan."

"Then that's where we'll finish them," said Triton, " but first you Keyblade Wielders need to leave, now, before the enemy sends more of themselves after you."

"He's right," said Sora, "if Maleficent and the demons know we're here, then they'll send everything they've got after us to get Kairi and Riku."

"Then we've definitely got to go," said Kairi, "but first thing's first," she looked at the active portal that the enemy used to bring in the industrial waste, "we've got to seal that."

"Already on it," said Tess as she walked over to the portal and closed it with her Keyblade. Just then a gold key adorned with seven, rainbow-colored jewles, dropped out of a palm tree and landed in front of Tess.

"What the…?" she asked as she picked up the gold key, "now I've got one of these things."

"That's three," said Aiden as he and Kairi held up theirs.

"But what do they mean?" Kairi asked.

"We'll worry about them later," said Sora, "we need to go."

"Just hold your horses," said Tess, "I have to ask someone a question," she walked over to King Triton, "do you know what these are?"

"I must admit that I've never seen anything like it," said King Triton.

"Thank you, anyway," said Tess. She walked over to our heroes, "now we can go."

"Not just yet," said Aiden. He then transmuted the remains of the pollution on the island into harmless water and sand.

"Alchemy," said King Triton, "yes, that will surely clean up the pollution in the city."

"Glad I could be inspiring," said Aiden, he then looked at Riku, "now we can go."

"Right," said Riku as he pulled out his cell phone, "Sidney, beam us up."

"Right way," said Sidney.

"We'll come back soon, Ariel!" said Sora, "when things aren't so crazy!"

"You take care of yourselves!" said Kairi, "we'll be back!"

"We'll be waiting!" said Ariel as she, Melody, Triton and Eric waved goodbye.

The next thing Sora and the others knew, they were back aboard _The Intrepid Heart_, "let's get out of here," said Sora as they made their way back to the bridge, "Sidney, is that time/space distortion thing still there?"

"It is," said Sidney, "and we can use it to return to our normal time. In fact, it's begining to stabilize; it'll be around a lot longer than my origional estimate."

"Good," said Riku, "not that I didn't mind visiting the future again, but there's no place like home."

"I know what you mean, man," said Jacob.

"Uh, before we go any further," said Lyra, "could you put your clothes on? Or do you prefer to complete the rest of this trip naked?"

Everyone then realize that Jacob was indeed naked, but by now they weren't as embarrassed about it as they were before, but still modest about it, "where are your clothes, Jacob?" Sora asked.

"I ripped them when I phased," said Jacob, "it's a risk you run when being a shape shifter." He then walked to his room, "but I have plenty of spare stuff to wear."

"Lucky us," said Aiden, "I'm not comfortable with having a nudist for a crewmate."

A few minutes later they reached the time/space anomaly and went through.

"All readings say we're back in our normal time," said Sidney, "we did it."

"So now what?" Kairi asked, "where can we go that Maleficent won't attack us?"

"I don't know," said Sora, "but one thing's for sure, I'm not going to let those Villains get you."

"What about me?" Aiden asked.

"You, we're not so sure about," said Tess, "but we'll keep you safe just the same."

"Thanks a lot," said Aiden, "so, where are we going next?"

"We still owe a visit to Neverland," said Sora, "so we either go now, or just forget about it."

"We're a few hours from Neverland," said Riku as he checked the navigation data, "the anomaly must have returned us to a different position in space."

"Then let's go!" said Sora, "Tink, here we come!" With that the ship leapt back into hyperspace, our heroes finally on their way to their long overdue reunion with a certain blond pixy.

**The end of chapter 9.**

Next chapter, we switch back to Hayner and his group as they arrive in Deep Jungle and meet up with Tarzan. But the second of the League of Evil Exes is already there with a diabolical plan of his own. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!


	10. Chapter 10: Jungle Sliding of Doom

Last time found Sora and his group arriving not at Neverland as they planned, but at Atlantica, fifteen years into the future no less, all thanks to an anomaly in the fabric of space and time. Sora and the gang met up with Ariel, Eric and their daughter, Melody. They told our heroes all that had happened since the last time Sora was there.

At the same time, The Negotiator thawed out Ursula in order to have someone deal with Sora and the gang. She went through the anomaly and met up with Matthew Patel, first of the league of Evil Exes, who was carrying out a plan of pollution. The baddies were dumping industrial waste onto Atlantica, and our heroes, most of them anyway, went into the sea to stop them. Sora and the gang then met Ursula and her insane sister, Morgana. One thing lead to another, resulting in the two sea witches escaping to plot another day, and our heroes combined efforts defeating Matthew Patel. Tess found a third gold key and our heroes returned to their normal time and were on their way, finally to Neverland to see Tinker Bell. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Chapter 10: Jungle Sliding of Doom**

"Did I ever tell you guys about my semi-cousin from Brazil?" Nessie asked as she and Olette sat in the ship's recreation room, "Nahuel isn't really my cousin, but he's half vampire like me; with a pulse and can sleep."

"Is he cute?" Olette asked eagerly, "and is he single?"

"He lives with his aunt," said Nessie, "who's a full vampire. Male half-vampires have venom and can change people into vampires. We still don't know why that is, why girl half-vampires don't have venom, not that I don't mind. And Nahuel is gorgeous! Not as gorgeous as Jacob, but you'll be screaming like an Elvis fan at the height of his career."

"I have no idea what that means," said Olette, "but I'm looking forward to meeting Nahuel."

"I'll be happy to introduce you to him," said Nessie.

Just then Pence came into the room, "We're coming up on the next world," he said, "Deep Jungle."

"Did I also told you guys about the time my uncle Emmett went down to Brazil and ate an anaconda?" Nessie asked as they walked to the bridge.

"No," said Olette, "but I'm sure it'll make a great story."

"So what are we looking for down there?" Hayner asked as Nessie, Olette and Pence walked onto the bridge. "We're still looking for Jacob, and there's those weird gold keys we've found. But what else are we going to find down there?"

At that Olette took out the key they found on Port Royal, while Pence held up the one he found on Halloween Town.

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Will as he and Kirjava looked at the scanners, "there's a lot of jungle down there, and a whole lot of wild animals."

"Any carnivores?" Nessie asked, "meat-eater blood tastes better than herbivores."

"It's difficult to tell from up here which is what," said Kirjava, "but just about any animal you'd find in a jungle is down there, including large predator cats."

"Sweet," said an eager Nessie as she licked her lips, "lunch is served!"

"But first let's get down there already," said Will, "and there's also a lot of Heartless down there."

"Just our luck," said Olette.

"What about Nobodies?" Hayner asked.

"A few," said Will, "and there's also demons. And…" he looked closer at the scanner data, "I'm also seeing large areas of deforestation."

"You're seeing what?" Pence asked.

"A huge area of the jungle has been chopped down," said Kirjava, "hundreds of acres have been clear-cut, and it looks like it happened in the past few days."

"That's horrible," said Olette, "who would do that? A jungle is harmless, unless you count all the meat-eaters and all the bugs and diseases you can catch."

"I'll tell you who would cut down a jungle," said an irate Nessie, "someone out to make money and doesn't care how dirty the means are, only that a profit is made. We've got the same problem on my world."

"Mine too," said Will, "there's people who have made progress to save the environment, a lot of progress, but as long as men are greedy, they'll do horrible things to make money, even if it means ruining the world."

"Same with my world," said Nessie, "there's a lot of good people where I come from, but also rotten humans who only care about short-term gains and have no concern for long-term consequences. They're the kind of people who deserve to get all the blood sucked out of them, then have their bodies burned before they change into vampires."

Nessie then looked like she was having a deep thought, "but on the other hand, immortality can be a curse as well as a gift. Under the right circumstances, a vampire can be imprisoned indefinitely. If you can confine him or her in a place where he or she can't escape, the vampire would go insane from bloodlust after a few weeks."

"This is all really interesting and disturbing and all," said Pence, "but can we please beam down to the world now? Before I'm totally freaked out."

"There's a large tree house where I can beam you down," said Vivi, "Good luck."

"I've got a feeling we're going to need it," said Hayner as they all went to the transporter room, "that this one's gonna be tougher than anything else we've been through."

"More tough than facing a horde of Cthulhu cultists?" Olette asked, "and a Cthulhu monster?"

"And dealing with a bunch of pirates no less," said Pence, "and what about just now on that Halloween world? We literally gambled with our lives there."

"And most of us lost," said Will.

"That creep of a monster was a no good, dirty, rotten cheater," said Kirjava, "I hope we don't meet another like that anytime soon."

They reached the transporter room and Vivi prepared to beam them down. "I'll say it again," said Vivi, "good luck, and call me if you get into trouble."

"Thanks," said Hayner, "and we'll be in touch." Vivi then beamed them down.

The next thing Hayner and the others knew they were in a large tree house that had seen better days. Furniture and various household objects were strewn across the planking floor, while the boards that made up the floor and walls looked like they were only a short way from rotting. Vines choked the walls and ceiling, while one doorway opened out to the vastness of the jungle. Underneath the house was a large cargo net stretched across the branches.

"Well, this looks like a nice place," said Olette sarcastically.

"Are you so sure about that?" Will asked as he pointed out one of the windows. From this high up, they could see a wide patch of empty ground in the jungle a few miles from where the tree stood.

"I thought it looked bad from orbit," said Pence as he and the others saw the devastation. Even from a distance it looked awful.

"We have to do something," said Olette, "we can't just stand around while some greedy maniac chops down an entire world."

"I agree," said Nessie, "Jacob can wait. We've got to save this jungle."

"How do we do that?" Pence asked.

Just then the room was filled with Powerwilds.

"I'm more worried about staying alive right now!" Hayner as they drew their weapons.

"Why is it that we always run into trouble?" Will asked as he and Kirjava dodged a Powerwilds' spinning claw attack, then dodged as it slid to strike them, then stabbed the creature.

"Everywhere we go, things get heavy!" said Pence as he basked one Powerwild, then blocked a slashing claw attack from another.

"Things would be boring!" said Nessie as she stabbed one Powerwild after another, then ripped one in half with her bare hands, "but still, I'd like to go somewhere I can just rest and relax."

It wasn't long before the area was free of Heartless. "Well," said Olette as she blasted the last Powerwild with a Blizzard spell, "that's that."

"Now what?" Hayner asked. He looked at Nessie, "can you smell Jacob?"

"There's a whole galaxy of scents out here," said Nessie as she sniffed the air, "even with my huge mind, it's going to take a while to sort out Jacob's from the rest," she sniffed again, "I think we need to get on the ground, being up high in this tree, all the scents get mixed up in the wind."

"So let's get down there," said Pence, "but how do we do that?"

"The tree can take us all the way down," said Olette.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way," said Will.

They climbed down the tree, eventually making it to the jungle floor, "that was one huge tree," said a slightly winded Hayner.

"That was nothing," said Nessie, "I can run a marathon without breaking a sweat."

"I'll bet you can," said Pence.

Just then a huge leopard jumped down from the trees and growled at Hayner and the others.

"That is one big cat," said a nervous Olette.

"Not to me," said an eager Nessie, "I think lunch just got delivered!"

The leopard growled loudly and slashed its claws threateningly at Nessie. She responded by growing back at the leopard. It then hissed defensively and backed away, but Nessie stalked after it. The leopard then ran into the undergrowth, with Nessie chasing after it.

"Come back, kitty!" shouted Nessie, "I don't want to hurt you! I only want to suck your blood!"

"Remind we why we're friends with a half human, half vampire who eats animals?" Pence asked in a slightly disturbed manner.

"Because she's cool," said Olette.

A few minutes later Nessie came back, her clothes slightly rumpled and had a few spots of blood, while her lips were stained with blood.

"Ah, nothing like fresh predator," said Nessie as she licked a drop of blood from the back of her hand, then licked her lips clean.

"I hope that leopard wasn't a mother leopard," said Olette, "otherwise there'll be a lot of miserable leopard kittens."

Just then twenty more huge, adult leopards jumped out of the tress and surrounded Nessie, Hayner and the others.

"I think we've got other things to worry about," said Pence as our heroes held up their weapons.

"Can you take out a score of leopards, Nessie?" Will asked.

"Not without risking you guys," said Nessie.

"We can handle ourselves against a bunch of overgrown cats," said Hayner, "we'll get ripped up a bit, but we'll take them out!"

Just then there came the sound of a man yelling through the jungle. The leopards looked up at the sound of the yell nervously.

"Now what?" Pence asked.

Just then a tall, well muscled man wearing only a loincloth and with long brown hair, swung down from the trees on a vine. He carried only a spear with a flint head, but he seemed to intimidate the leopards. They all ran into the undergrowth.

"That was weird," said Kirjava.

"Any weirder than an animal able to talk like a human can?" the man asked, "or a man raised by gorillas?"

"That's equally weird," said Nessie. She and the others then introduced themselves to the loincloth-wearing man, "thanks for saving us."

"Any time," said the man, "I am Tarzan. Not many people would last against one of the children of Sabor, let along the whole clan."

"I guess when I drank that one," said a sheepish Nessie, "I should have asked if he had any brothers or sisters who would avenge him."

"I'm afraid a pack of angry leopards is the least thing we have to worry about these days," said Tarzan.

"The deforestation," said Hayner, "our ship saw the damage to the jungle from above."

"Is it really that bad?" Olette asked, "we saw how big the damage was from that tree house, but…"

"It's worse than you think," said Tarzan. "I'll show you."

Hayner and the others followed Tarzan through the jungle for a mile or so, until they came in a break in the trees. It was much more than that, it was the edge of the devastation. Every tree for miles had been cut down, while the soil had been polluted with various toxins, which would make it very hard for anything to grow in this part of the world again for many years to come.

"This is god awful!" said Olette, "what kind of sick, twisted, demented monster would do this?"

"I think I know," said Nessie in a grave tone, "I remember reading the files my friends back home had on Gideon's toadies. There's one who would definitely knock down a forest for money, especially if it'll further his own sick needs."

"Well whoever this jerk is," said Hayner, "he's crossed the line."

"Oh, I don't think so," said a deep, slightly raspy male voice from behind Nessie, Hayner, Tarzan and the others. They turned around to see a tall human with dark hair, a slight stubble of a beard and wearing black leather pants, jacket and boots. "The only one's who's crossed the line, is you punks."

"You're fooling yourself, Lucas Lee!" said Nessie, "I read your file; you're a pro-skater turned action star and sellout."

"You underestimate me, shortly," said the dark human, Lucas Lee, "and those who underestimate me, end up in body bags."

"Is this guy for real?" Pence asked.

"Be careful what you wish for, tubby," said Lucas, "you might just get it."

"Don't call me fat!" snapped Pence, "I'm not fat! I'm big boned!"

"I thought you said you were husky," said Olette.

"I'm both," said an irate Pence.

"You're a tub of lard who needs a serious workout," said Lucas, "and I'm the one, who's gonna make you sweat."

"What are you talking about!" said Pence, "I get plenty of exorcise!"

"He's just trying to mess with us!" said Hayner.

"Check out the brain on the blondie," said Lucas, "you're a smart mother-lover."

"Don't you bring my mom into this!" snapped Hayner.

"Why are you destroying the jungle?" Tarzan demanded, "can't you see you're ruining the lives of countless innocent people?"

"I'm trying to make things better," said Lucas, "better for me and my fans that is. And there aren't any people getting hurt."

"I'm talking about all the gorillas who's homes you're destroying," said Tarzan, "some of those gorillas are my friends and family!"

"Sorry, dude," said Lucas, "sacrifices for the greater pleasure has to be made. This whole world is gonna be clearcut, to make way for the greatest thing ever! The Most Awesome Skateboard Park in the History of History."

"What?" Will asked, "you're going to deforest an entire world just to build a stupid skateboard park?"

"It's not stupid," said Lucas, "it's awesome."

"It's evil, that's what it is!" said Nessie, "reckless destruction of the environment is just plain wrong. It's even more wrong when you build something just plain useless on that destroyed environment."

"Why build a skate park when the layout of your own town will work just a well," said Hayner.

"City enviroments are lame!" said Lucas, "this is going to be the most Awesome of Awesome things to ever be built!"

"You're insane!" said Olette.

"Insanity is only genius misunderstood," said Lucas.

"No, you're just plain crazy," said Pence.

"Say it, don't spray it, tubby," said Lucas.

"Oh for crying out loud!' said Nessie as she drew her sword, "let's fight already!"

"I agree," said Tarzan. He pointed his spear at Lucas, "I'll give you this one chance; leave this world and never come back, or pay the price."

"I don't think so, tough guy," said Lucas, "you see, I had to pull a lot of favors with Gideon in order to get the green light on this project, so I can't stop."

"Oh yes you will!" said Will, "you're going to stop cutting down the jungle and replace every tree you've chopped."

"Not in this life, princess," said Lucas.

"Can we just kill him already?" Hayner asked.

"You want to tango?" Lucas asked, "let's dance!" He then summoned dozens of Powerwilds and several of a new type of Heartless. They looked like robots with chainsaws for hands, which would later be called Choppers.

"Why can't we ever get a break?" Pence asked as he bashed a Powerwild, then blocked a chainsaw slash from a Chopper.

"We just have that kind of luck," said Hayner as he blocked a Chopper, then sliced it's chainsaw arms off.

Just then another new type of Heartless attacked, one that looked like a black, oversized bulldozer with gnashing teeth where the blade should be. The new type, Dozer, charged at Will. He dodged it's gnashing teeth and got on top of it. It spun around in circles to try and shake him off, but Will stabbed it with his sword, delivering a significant amount of damage.

Nessie then rushed at the Dozer and sliced it in half with her sword. She then ripped a Chopper in half with her bare hands.

Tarzan then speared the last Powerwild in the area. "I'll say it again," he said to Lucas, "leave now and never come back."

"I've got more where that came from, cupcake," said Lucas. He then summoned a massive Heartless, one that looked like it was made of several combined construction vehicles. The legs were dump trucks, the torso was a cement mixer and the arms were excavators. The head was a small bulldozer.

"I'm suddenly having flashbacks of Transformers," said Will as he and the others got out of the way as the massive Heartless, the Combiner, attacked. It tried to grab Olette with its excavator arms, then tried to stomp Pence with its dump truck legs.

"I just want to go on record and say that I hate Heartless!" shouted Olette as she blasted the Combiner with a Thunder spell, then a Blizzard spell. But the metallic monstrosity wasn't going down that easily. It shrugged off the spells and kept on attacking.

"We're going to need a lot more firepower!" said Pence as he blocked a slashing excavator shovel."

"We just need to find it's weak spot!" said Hayner, "all machines have a weakness! We just have to find it!"

The Combiner then turned around briefly to try and stab Nessie who was trying to get behind it. Hayner, Pence and Tarzan then saw a small opening in it's armor-like hide, an opening that exposed the internal machinery of the metal monster.

"How about this!" shouted Tarzan he then ran up to the machine Heartless, dodging excavator slashes left and right, before jumping into one of its dump truck legs. He then jumped and swung his way up the body of the machine Heartless. He then stabbed his spear into the opening, jamming the spearhead between several gears. The jammed gears started a chain reaction that soon had the Combiner shaking itself apart. Everyone backed away as the Combiner fell to the ground and completely broke apart. The parts then dissolved into black smoke, and from that smoke a yellow crystal heart rose into the air and vanished.

"And that's that," said Nessie. She then glared at Lucas, "any more dirty tricks up your sleeve, jerk?"

"Oh I've got plenty," said Lucas.

"What, sleeves or dirty tricks?" Nessie asked.

"Don't try to make a mockery of me, girlie," said Lucas, "I've gotten weirder things for free in my breakfast cereal."

"That doesn't make any sense, you creep!" shouted Hayner as he, Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Tarzan stood with Nessie and they all faced Lucas.

"You want to dance with this dog?" Lucas asked, "fine by me. But you've got to tango with my stunt doubles."

"Your what?" Pence asked as several look-alikes of Lucas appeared and attacked our heroes.

"Doesn't this guy even know how to play fair?" Olette asked as she blocked a punch from one Lucas copy, then blasted him with a fireball.

"The guy is a greedy, cheating creep who can't even act!" said Nessie as she punched one copy's head completely around, then broke the neck of another with a high kick, "it's a miracle he's lasted as long as he did in the movie business, let alone in the pro-skateboard business.."

"He'd probably bribed a producer," said Hayner as he stabbed one look alike, then slashed another, while Pence, Tarzan, Will and Kirjava finished off the rest.

"I'm not even going to ask if you've got more tricks, Lucas Lee," said an irate Nessie as our heroes faced him again, "we're just going to finish you off now."

"You might want to look up first," said a viciously smiling Lucas said.

"Like we're going to fall for that one!" said Pence.

"Uh, guys?" said Kirjava as she noticed a large shadow falling on everyone, "I think we should look up."

Our heroes then looked up to see a huge steamroller, easily twice the size of a normal machine, falling towards them.

"Oh crap!" shouted Pence just as the massive machine was about to hit them. They all ducked, except for Nessie, who caught the steam roller and held it above her head. She barely kept it from dropping, sweat pouring from her brow as she struggled to keep it above her head.

"It's useless to fight me," said Lucas, "I'll crush you weaklings any way I can."

"Crush this!" shouted Nessie as she mustered every ounce of vampire strength she had and threw the steamroller at Lucas. He barely got out of the way as the massive machine crashed to the ground.

"This is pointless," said Nessie as she got her breath back, "we're not going to get anywhere fighting like this," she glared at Lucas, "you won't fight directly, and we keep countering your dirty tricks. We're locked in a stalemate."

"I see the truth in your words, little girl," said Lucas, "so what do you propose?"

"Jungle Sliding," said Tarzan, "you say you're an athlete."

"I have worn out many skateboards on the rails," said Lucas.

"Then I challenge you to a Jungle Sliding contest," said Tarzan, "if I defeat you, you must leave this world and never return."

"What's Jungle Sliding?" Pence asked.

"And is it like Struggle?" Hayner asked.

"I'll show you," said Tarzan. Everyone then went back into the jungle and watched as Tarzan slid down a large, thick vine, ducking and jumping over branches and other vines.

"It's like skateboarding," said Pence as Tarzan finished the run.

"Cool," said Hayner, "I've got this."

"Is that a fact?" Lucas asked, "don't even try, scarecrow. You're not even close to my league."

"Oh yeah?" Hayner asked, "I'll take you down in a heartbeat! Just give me the chance."

"I never turn down a challenge," said Lucas, "prepare to be dominated." The two of them then climbed to the top of the vine and began sliding down. They both equally ducked and jumped over branches. But Hayner had a slight lead.

"I think Hayner's going to win!" said Olette.

But then Lucas pushed Hayner's shoulder, causing him to nearly fall off the vine. Hayner regained his balance, only to have Lucas push him again. This time Hayner fell off the vine and crashed into the underbrush. He wound up tangled in several smaller vines, breaking his fall, but leaving him severely humiliated.

"Later, loser!" shouted Lucas as he made it to the end of the run.

"You jerk!" shouted Pence, "you cheated!"

"You could have seriously hurt him!" said Olette.

"He's fine," said Will as Nessie ran up to untangle Hayner. He then glared at Lucas, "but that was totally despicable!"

"You cheating bastard!" snapped Kirjava, "what is wrong with you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Lucas, "I simply won. Your friend is the one who made a mess of himself."

"What the hell are you saying!" shouted a battered, bruised and irate Hayner, "you pushed me!"

"Don't blame me if you have no talent," said Lucas.

"You're crazy!" said Will, "and you're the one without any talent! I'm going to beat you, right here and now!"

"Wait," said Tarzan, "this is my world, and this jungle is my home. I'll defend it my way," he glared at Lucas, "let's Slide."

"Gladly, princess," said Lucas. He and Tarzan then climbed to the top of the vine and started sliding. But again Lucas tried to push Tarzan off the vine.

"You can't beat me that way!" said Tarzan, "I won't lose to cheating!"

"Who's cheating?" Lucas asked as he tried to shove Tarzan off the vine again, "you're delusional!" he then grabbed a branch from an overhanging tree and shoved it in front of Tarzan, forcing him to trip and fall off of the vine. He managed to land safely on the ground, while Lucas slid to the bottom of the vine.

"I win again, losers!" shouted Lucas.

"You cheated, again, you cheep, no-talent bastard!" said Will, "now it's my turn!"

"Bring it on, baby cakes," said Lucas. They both climbed to the top of the vine and started down, while Kirjava ran alongside on Will's side of the vine. Will quickly gained the lead and managed to either dodge or block all of Lucas' attempts to shove him off the vine.

"Cheaters always get their comeuppance, jerk!" said Will.

"He's got nothing on you!" said Kirjava.

"Oh yeah?" Lucas asked, "well how about this!" he then threw a punch at Will. He blocked it, then threw a punch of his own.

"They're actually fighting on the vine!" said Pence as he, Hayner, Olette, Nessie and Tarzan took turns watching through a pair of binoculars, "but how can they keep their balance like that?"

"I'm guessing that Will is using his ki to keep his feet firmly planted on the vine," said Nessie as she watched Will block a kick from Lucas, "I don't know how the jerk is doing it, though."

"Whatever he's doing," said Olette, "I'll bet he's cheating."

But then Lucas did a leg sweep that knocked Will off the vine. He wound up landing on Kirjava and they both tumbled to the bottom of the vine. They weren't seriously hurt, but boy were they angry.

"You son of a bitch!" said Will as he and Kirjava picked themselves up and glared at Lucas as he finished the run, "you cheating bastard!"

"Don't have a cow if you can't handle losing," said Lucas.

"Okay, that does it," said an irate Nessie, "now it's my turn. I'm going to clean your clock, then I'm going to kick your ass."

"But you've already fought a bunch of Heartless," said Olette, "and saved us from that big steamroller. Aren't you tired?"

"I already hunted today," said Nessie, "I could take on a thousand more Heartless without any trouble." she then glared at Lucas, "and this jerk is going to get his just deserts, big time."

"Talk is cheep," said Lucas, "only victory has value."

"But cheating is cheep also," said Nessie, "you can't win without cheating. In fact, I'll bet you can't resist cheating! I'll bet that you can't run one honest race, that your very nature, rotten as it is, prevents you from playing fair and square."

"I'll take that bet and win," said Lucas, "because I don't cheat."

"And you can't even go five minutes without lying!" said Nessie, "I thought that other jerk in Gideon's merry band of villains, the vegan jerk Todd Ingram, that he's a liar. But it doesn't matter. I'll still win, even if you throw every dirty trick in the book at me, and then some."

"How are you going to do that?" Olette asked..

"I don't know," said Nessie, "but we haven't come this far just to get our asses kicked by a overbearing, cheating sellout of an actor who happens to be an okay skateboarder. I can only do my best and hope for the same."

"But he's still beating us," said Will, "if we can't beat him honestly, how are we going to win at all?"

Just then Nessie had an idea, "hey, Tarzan? Are there any really, really long and really, really steep vines we can slide on?"

"There is one," said Tarzan. He then pointed up the mountain, "the gorillas call it," he grunted several syllables, "I guess the best way to say it in English would be 'Vines of Horribly Painful Death.' Kircheck, the leader of the gorilla tribe where I was raised, his father was the only one to make it all the way from start to finish. Everyone else who's tried has…let's just say that it wasn't pretty."

"That dangerous?" Nessie asked.

"Even I haven't tried it," said Tarzan, "wait, you're not thinking about…?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," said Nessie as she grinned eagerly. She then looked at Luca, "alright, Lucas Lee, big time Hollywood action start and sellout who's also a unscrupulous jerk and a cheater, you think you're so tough? Well let's see you slide on the Vines of Horribly Painful Death."

"Is that a challenge, little lady?" Luca asked, "'cause I intend to accept, and totally whop your tiny keister in the process."

"We'll see who gets their tails kicked," said Nessie, "Tarzan, please show us the way."

"I'd like to say that this is a bad idea," said Tarzan, "but if this is how you want to settle things, then I won't stop you. Follow me."

"Are you crazy?" Pence asked Nessie as they wall went with Tarzan through the jungle.

"You heard Tarzan," said Olette, "not even he's tried these vines."

"So what?" Nessie asked, "I can do it."

"But you'll get killed!" Hayner asked.

"Not likely," said Nessie, "remember, I'm indestructible."

"But you're only half vampire," said Pence, "the rest of you is still human. If you get seriously hurt, you'll die."

"No I won't," said Nessie, "I may be half human, but I'm an exceptional half human."

"We're not going to be able to talk you out of it," said Olette in an conceding tone, "are we?"

"Nope," said Nessie, "this is what I want to do, and I'm going to do it."

They then reached the bottom of the vine course. It was well over a mile from top to bottom and ran and a very steep angle.

"Oh, well…umm," said Nessie as she realized just what she had gotten herself into, "that is a dangerous looking course."

"Well, pipsqueak," said Lucas, "gonna back out?"

"Like hell I am!" said Nessie, "I just need a minute to get ready."

"Don't do this!" said Hayner, "if you try to slide down that, you'll fall off and crash down the mountain."

"Or you'll wind up going too fast and not be able to stop right," said Pence, "you could crash into a tree and break into a lot of pieces."

"Then I'll leave it to you guys to put me back together," said Nessie as she stretched. "I still want to do this, even though it's dangerous."

"We still can't talk you out of it?" Olette asked.

"Not even for all the shiny things in the universe," said Nessie, "and I like shiny things," She then glared at Lucas, "let's go, you arrogant sack of pig vomit."

"After you, tiny," said Lucas.

"Okay, that has to stop!" snapped Nessie, "I get it, you're taller than me! Big freaking deal! Now shut up and slide!"

"Gladly," said Lucas. They both started climbing up to the top of the vine.

"She's gonna get herself killed," said Pence in a frantic tone, "what is she thinking?"

"It's official," said Olette, "Nessie's lost it!"

"I hope not," said Hayner.

"No," said Tarzan, "she knows exactly what she's doing."

"How do you know?" Will asked.

"She's bating Lucas," said Kirjava.

"Exactly, "said Tarzan, "that Lucas may think he's better than us, but he's still human."

"And Nessie's more than human," said Hayner, "I think I get it."

"Enlighten us, please," said Olette.

"Those vines are suicide," said Tarzan, "Lucas may have the skills to make it all the way to the bottom, but he's so full of himself, he won't be able to stop in time."

"While Nessie might just make it herself," said Pence, "I get it!"

"I don't," said Olette, "but I'm willing to trust Nessie."

"Let's just hope our trust is well placed," said Will.

A short time later Nessie and Lucas made it to the top of the vine. They stood at the start and were prepared to head down, "any last words before you lose, little girl?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," said Nessie, "I hope your last will and testament is up to date."

"I don't need that," said Lucas, "I win, I always win."

"Then how come Ramona Flowers rejected you?" Nessie asked, "and how come you later got yourself killed by Scott Pilgrim?"

"I…that was…it wasn't…" said a confused and irate Lucas, "just how did you find out about that anyway?"

"I have friends in high places," said Nessie as she smiled eagerly, "now are we going to do this or not?"

"Get ready to eat humiliation!" said Lucas. With that the two of them started down the vine.

"There they go!" shouted Pence as everyone saw the two sliders through binoculars, "They're dead even."

"Don't say dead!" said Olette.

"How fast are they going?" Hayner asked.

"Really fast," said Will, "almost too fast!"

"If they fall off they could seriously hurt themselves," said Pence.

"They don't look like they're going to fall off," said Hayner, "in fact," he zoomed in with his binoculars, "I think Nessie's winning!"

Just then Lucas pushed Nessie. She nearly lost her balance, but she recovered and kept sliding, "hey! You dirty cheater!"

"I didn't do anything," said Lucas, "you're imagining things!"

"You're also a liar, Lucas Lee!" shouted Nessie as they both jumped over a branch, then slid to the side of another branch.

"No I'm not," said Lucas. He then pushed Nessie again, causing her to nearly fall off the vine, but she regained her balance. Only now Lucas was in the lead by a hair.

"He's cheating again!" said Olette, "I saw him push her!"

"There's nothing we can do about it," said Hayner. "They're up there and we're down here!"

"Nessie's going to die!" said Pence.

"She knows what she's doing," said Tarzan, "we have to trust her."

"That's easy to say," said Pence, "We're down here and she's up there."

Nessie then leaned forward and moved head of Lucas, "you'll have to do better than that, creep!" she shouted, "you can't cheat your way past me! This race is all mine!" By then they were more than halfway down the vine.

"I think not," said Lucas, "prepare to lose!" he then pushed Nessie hard enough that she lost her balance and fell off the vine. She crashed into the trees and knocked down several with the velocity of her fall. She eventually stopped and got up, battered and bruised, but still in one piece.

"Later, loser!" shouted Lucas as he leaned forward, increasing his speed even more. By then he was going at almost 300 KPH.

"You may have won the race!" shouted Nessie, "but you've lost your life! I've done my homework! History repeats itself, you piece of crap!"

Just then Lucas broke the 300 KPH mark and was going so fast he didn't have time to stop when he saw a very large tree across from the bottom of the vine.

"Oh man," said Lucas as he reached the bottom of the vine and shot past Hayner, Will, Tarzan and the others, "not again." he slammed into the tree and left a human sized impression in the trunk of the tree.

By then Nessie had ran down the mountain and reached the others. Her scrapes had healed and she looked like she was on top of the world despite losing the race. "I'm okay, guys."

"I thought you'd break in half from that fall," said a relieved Olette.

"Not me," said Nessie as she smiled brightly, "I told you I'm indestructible!"

"Oh yeah?" Lucas asked as he picked himself up, "then how come you're afraid of fire?"

"What?" Nessie asked, "well…I'm not afraid of fire. Fire happens to be the only sure thing that can destroy a vampire, but I'm not a full vampire, so we can't be sure if it'll hurt me." She then blinked in surprise, "and why aren't you dead? You died last time when you went so fast that you couldn't stop in time."

"Look who's the idiot now," said Lucas, "I also have friends in high places, friends who improved me when they brought me back to life. Now," he grinned vicious, "let's find out if you are week against fire, tiny."

Just then a giant Heartless that looked like a robotic exoskeleton you'd find in a scifi action movie, the kind a human would pilot, appeared. It was about 20ft tall with a black metal chaise and walked on two legs and had two arms. One arm ended in a huge circular saw that looked like it could slice through steel, while the other arm ended with two flame throwers. It's torso had a clear cockpit window that revealed a human-sized seat and a set of controls.

Lucas jumped into the cockpit of the robotic Heartless and the window closed on him. He then grabbed the controls. The machine Heartless, which would later be called ExoBlaze, took a step forward and raised it's buzz saw arm, chopping down a tree in the process. Pence and Olette were nearly crushed by the falling tree.

Lucas then used the flamethrowers on the other arm to incinerate another tree. "How's this for a slice of fried gold?"

"Now you're not making any sense at all!" said Nessie. But then she frantically dodged a flamethrower blast.

"You monster!" snapped Olette as she blasted the machine Heartless with a Thunder spell. The ExoBlaze absorbed the electric spell, then shot it back at Olette. She barely dodged it.

"Eat this, jerk!" said Pence as he threw his fist shields at the ExoBlaze. The thrown shields merely bounced off its metal casing. It then slashed it's buzz saw at Pence, who barely got out of the way.

"How are we going to stop this thing?" Will asked as he dodged a flamethrower blast.

"This worked before!" shouted Tarzan as he took up a rock. He then dodged flamethrower blasts and buzz saw slashes and managed to jump onto the back of the ExoBlaze. He then bashed the rock against one of the back plates of the machine Heartless.

"Get off of me, jungle boy!" shouted Lucas as he trashed the ExoBlaze about to try and shake Tarzan off of him. Eventually Tarzan was shaken off and he landed behind the machine, only to dodge a stomping attack.

Nessie then ran up and tried to help Tarzan, but the machine Heartless slashed its buzz saw at her. Nessie grabbed the arm with the buzz saw spinning barely an inch from her face. It tried to push its way into slicing her in half, but Nessie held the deadly blade at bay.

"Now this is a slice of fried gold!" said Lucas as he brought the flamethrower arm around and blasted Nessie. She screamed in agony as her left arm was burned.

"Nessie!" shouted Olette as she blasted the machine with Blizzard spells, extinguishing the flames. Nessie's arm was severely burned, but otherwise she was in one piece.

Tarzan then picked up a bigger rock and climbed back onto the ExoBlaze. He then bashed off the back plate, exposing the internal machinery. Tarzan then threw the rock into the machine, jamming the inner workings and causing the ExoBlaze to break. Lucas jumped out of the collapsing machine, only to be bashed in the head by Pence's fist shields, then slashed twice by Hayner and Will, then slashed across the face by Kirjava's claws. Lucas then collapsed to the ground.

"Are you okay, Nessie?" Olette asked.

"Aside from having my arm charred to a crisp," said Nessie as she gritted her teeth against the agony, "I'm alright. How are you this fine day?"

"At least your sense of humor isn't hurt," said Olette. "hold on, I'll Heal you in a heartbeat." She then cast a Heal spell that slowly repaired the damage to Nessie's arm.

"You idiots aren't going to get away with this!" snapped Lucas as he got up.

"We already have!" said an extremely angry Nessie. She ran over to Lucas and delivered several fast punches to his torso that left him staggering for breath. She then grabbed him by his neck with her unburned arm and lifted him up, "if you want to stay alive for a few more minutes, you're going to tell the truth; where's Jacob?"

"I don't know," gasped Lucas.

"Liar!" snapped Nessie as she squeezed his throat harder, just a fraction of effort away from crushing his throat, "tell the damn truth! Where's Jacob! Tell me, damnit!"

"I think he is telling the truth," said Will.

Nessie glared contemptuously at Lucas, then tossed him to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He coughed and gasped for air.

"What are we going to do with him?" Pence asked.

Just then Will had an idea. He whispered something to Nessie, who then nodded with grim agreement. Will then walked over to Lucas and delivered several small cuts to his arms, barely more than paper cuts, but he was bleeding quite a bit. All the while Nessie was breathing through her mouth

"What'd you do that for?" Hayner asked.

"Just making sure the scent of blood was in the air," said Nessie as she kept breathing through her mouth.

Seconds later the leopard pack was back and was walking past Will, Hayner, Nessie, Tarzan and the others. They were stalking towards Lucas.

"I took away one of their brothers," said Nessie, "a free meal is a meager compensation, but it's the best that can be done right now."

"I don't think I want to see this right now," said Olette.

"Me neither," said Pence. With that he, Hayner, Olette, Will, Kirjava and Tarzan walked away from the leopards as they closed in on Lucas.

"Oh man," he said just as the leopards were about to strike, "this sucks." He then screamed in terror as the leopards attacked and began to devour him.

A short time later found our heroes and Tarzan back at the tree house. They looked out at the deforested part of the jungle.

"How long do you think it'll take for the trees to grow back?" Pence asked.

"It may take years," said Tarzan, "maybe longer. But the jungle will heal itself with time."

"That's good," said Nessie as she looked at her arm where she was burned, which was nearly healed by now, with just a few pink scars that were slowly fading, "it's a good thing I'm still growing, otherwise I might not have this accelerating healing. I've got to tell grandfather Carlisle about this, it'll really make his day."

"I wanted to ask you something," said Tarzan, "do you know someone named Sora?"

"He's our friend," said Olette, "how do you know him?"

"We fought against the darkness together," said Tarzan, "if you see him, tell him Jane and I said hello, he'll understand."

"We'll do that," said Hayner, "thanks for helping us."

"Thanks for coming here to help the world," said Tarzan.

"We'll come back if we get the chance," said Will, "hopefully things will have calmed down."

"Until then," said Tarzan. He then jumped down from the treehouse, grabbed a vine and swung into the jungle, yelling his trademark yell.

"There goes an amazing individual," said Pence as Hayner pulled out his cell phone and called Vivi.

"I wonder how many more amazing people we'll met on this journey?" Hayner asked.

"Wait a second!" said Nessie, "I smell gold!"

"You can smell gold?"

"Everything has a scent," said Nessie, "especially precious metals." she sniffed the air, "I knew we'd find another!" she jumped up to the rafters of the tree house and grabbed something gold. She landed neatly on the floor and held out a gold key, similar to the ones they found on Port Royal and Halloween Town.

"Ever get the feeling that something big is going on?" Nessie asked as she looped a string through the end of the key and placed it around her neck, "I'm feeling it right now."

"There's got to be an answer to this puzzle," said Pence as Hayner told Vivi to beam them back up to _The Voyaging Light_.

"If there is an answer," said Olette, "we'll find it," she looked at Nessie, "oh, did you sniff out Jacob at all?"

"No," said a disappointed Nessie, "but even if I didn't, he would have sniffed me out. He's not here," Vivi them beamed them back to the ship, "we'll just have to look somewhere else."

"Well we've still got our choice of worlds to look," said Pence as they walked back to the bridge, "so," he pointed to the holographic image of the worlds, "where to next?"

Will looked at the images of the worlds and pointed to one that oddly looked like a red and pink heart with a hedge maze, "that world looks strangely promising."

"Wonderland," said Olette as she looked at the computer data on the world, "sounds fantastic."

"Did you say 'Wonderland?'" Nessie asked.

"That's what the computer says it's called," said Olette.

At that Nessie giggled loudly, while Will tried to stifle his own laughter.

"What?" Olette asked, "what's so funny?"

"It's just that," said Will, "where I come from, there's a very famous story involving a world called Wonderland."

"An extraordinary story," said Nessie, "I should know, I memorized it the first time I read it," she looked at Hayner, Pence and Olette, "I can remember every world I've ever read."

"So," said Will, "we're going to Wonderland. I hope it's reputation lives up to its name, or maybe not, because if this world like the one in the book, then we're in for a wild ride."

"I agree," said Nessie, "but," she smiled eagerly, "I'm not one to turn down an adventure."

"Me neither," said an eager Hayner, "Vivi, set course for Wonderland."

"Course laid in," said Vivi, "we're on our way!" A minute later the ship jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

><p>…New Hollow Bastion…<p>

"I'm sure that the Keyblade Wielders have met their doom by now," said The Negotiator, "oh great and terrible Maleficent."

"They had better be no more," said Maleficent in an irate tone, "I am in no mood for any further failure! If that fat witch, Ursula, and that flamboyant human, Matthew Patel, hasn't completely annihilated the brats, I will be extremely upset, and there will be consequences for my being upset."

"I can assure you, great one," said The Negotiator in a confident tone, even though he was nervously sweating, "your enemies will not leave Atlantica alive."

Just then the demons's PDA signaled an incoming message. He read the message and his face paled at the shock of what he saw, "oh, no. Oh great hells below, no." He looked like he had just been handed his death sentence.

"What is it?" Maleficent demanded, "tell me," she raised her staff, "or I will make you tell me!"

"I've just received word from Atlantica, oh mistress of all evil," said The Negotiator, "The Keyblade Wielders, they've…"

"Don't bother," sighed Maleficent as she sat on her throne of darkness, placing her hand on her forehead as she felt a headache coming on, "I can guess. The brats have destroyed Matthew Patel and Ursula."

"Actually, Ursula survived," said The Negotiator, "she and her insane sister, Morganna, they fled the battlefield and have gone to ground, or rather, underwater."

"They well be dealt with in time," said Maleficent, "I have no need for cowards, and Ursula has failed me for the last time," she glared at The Negotiator, "and you, you shall be dealt with as well. I warned you what would happen if your chosen Villain failed."

Just then The Negotiator received another message on his PDA. He looked like he had just been given another death sentence, "I've just received word from Deep Jungle. Lucas Lee has also been destroyed. It seems that the one that Mr. Graves rejected is alive and is active in this universe."

"What is this now?" Maleficent asked.

"I had already assured Mr. Graves that the reject wouldn't trouble him," said The Negotiator in a distant tone, "I have failed him."

"Pray that what your master will do to you will be lesser than what I intend for you, demon," said an irate Maleficent.

"I have failed Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator, "I have failed," it was as if he was action on a conditioned program as he pulled out a small gray box from his pocket. He opened the box, revealing a single black pill the size of an Aspirin. He swallowed the pill and seconds later he burst into black flame that reduced him to ashes in the blink of an eye.

"So," said Maleficent, "he has destroyed himself, rather than face his master's displeasure."

Just then a Dark Corridor opened and from it walked an exact double of The Negotiator, "actually," the demon said in an all too cheerful tone, "he was conditioned to self-immolate himself when too many of his projects went south. Mr. Graves has no need for cluster-fraks, so instead of punishment, he just 'fires them,'" he laughed, "forgive me, I tend to make puns sometimes."

"What trickery is this!" snapped Maleficent, "if this is your idea of a prank, then you shall suffer the like of which that the depths of hell will seem like paradise!"

"Oh don't be so uptight," said the copy of The Negotiator, "that other me you just saw die was a clone, as am I in fact. The original Negotiator met his demise long ago, when he ended up caught by a horde of angry villagers with axes. To say he fell to pieces would be an understatement, or rather, he was on edge right to the end," he laughed.

"So, you and that other Negotiator are merely copies?" Maleficent asked.

"Each one of us is a little different from the last," said the second Negotiator, "that last me was all business, while I have a stronger sense of humor," he then got serious, "but I never mix business with pleasure. I'm here to pick up the pieces where my predecessor failed. Leave everything to me, Maleficent, and all your dreams will come true."

"I hope you live up to your promises," said Maleficent, "otherwise I will be in the market for a new Negotiator before too long."

"Believe me," said the second Negotiator, "I won't let you down."

Unknown to Maleficent and the new Negotiator, they were being watched by the conspiring Hakonians.

* * *

><p>"The new Negotiator seems a bit more cheerful than the last one," said Falkon Everdark.<p>

"I don't like this at all," said Tylek Bladewraith, "how are we supposed to fight an enemy that can just chew out clones of the ones you just killed?"

"I don't know," said Falkon, "but we can't worry about that right now, we've got enough to worry about already. Is the preparations complete for the rescue operation?"

"Our team has infiltrated Radiant Garden," said Tyler, "and is prepared to break the fat cat out of his cage at our signal," she then crossed her arms stubbornly, "but I still don't see why we need that idiot, Pete."

"We had an agreement," said Falkon, "we managed to get his family away from Maleficent, and they're safely hidden in the city. Now it's up to Pete to keep his end of the bargain and find our errant leaders."

"Do you really think Reddik and Ralek are the ones who can save our race from extinction?" Tylek asked.

"If not," said Falkon, "then we're doomed to spend what little time we have left at the mercy of whatever offspring Nikolai and Katarina produced. I hear their shotgun wedding is being pushed forward, and they're not too happy about it."

"I remember the history of our race," said Tylek, "when the parents of the next leader were selected, they went through a ritual that put them in thrall to each other. Even if the bride and bridegroom hated each other, the dark magic of the ritual forced them to 'enjoy' their wedding night, and each following night, until the new leader was conceived. Nikolai and Katarina are going to be with each other for as long as it takes."

"Then there's no time to waste," said Falkon, "send the signal and get Pete back."

* * *

><p>…Radiant Garden…<p>

"Oh man," said a miserable Pete as he sat moping in a makeshift but sturdy cell that was set up in the Bailey, "I've really messed up this time. The wife's gonna kill me for sure this time, if Maleficent hasn't done in Peg, PJ and Pistol," she burried hs face in his large hands, "I'm in the doghouse now."

Just then Yuffie and Arieth walked up to the cage, with Arieth carrying a tray with lunch on it, "Are you alright?" Arieth asked.

"Do I look alright?" Pete moaned, "the wife and kids are probably dead meat by now, and it's all my fault!"

"Hey, don't cry," said Yuffie, "things can't be that bad."

"It is bad," said Pete, "my family's gone, and I could have saved them, but I didn't."

"Well," said Yuffie in an unsure tone, "I guess…"

"You can't know that your family's gone," said Areith, "there's still hope."

"What hope?" Pete asked.

Areith was about to say something reassuring, but then several lesser Hakonians teleported into the area. They then took out their weapons and closed in on Yuffie and Areith.

"Get behind me, Areith!" shouted Yuffie as she took out her oversized shuriken.

"They're behind us as well," said Areith.

"We don't want any trouble, ladies," said one of the Hakonains, "but we'll give it out if you give us any!"

"We just want the cat," said another Hakonians, "turn him over to us and we'll be on our way."

"What?" Yuffie asked, "why do you want Pete?"

"None of your business," said one of the Hakonians, "so give him to us, or we'll take him, and you don't want to see how we'll do that."

"I don't think you want to do that," said Leon as he stood at the entrance to the area with his gunblade over his shoulder. He jumped over the Hakonians and stood with Yufffie and Areith, "you creeps want to fight, we'll give you a fight to remember!"

Just then another Hakonian arrived via Dark Corridor, a man with shoulder-length brown hair and reddish-brown eyes, wearing a green and white martial artist outfit, "the last thing we want is trouble, Squall Lionheart," he said, "but we must have the cat."

"Why should we give him to you?" Leon asked, "he's our prisoner, and he's got information we can use against Maleficent."

"I've told you guys all that I know!" insisted Pete, "if these guys want me, then they're working with the renegades."

"True," said the martial artist Hakonian, "I am Hektor Nightfist, and your family is safe, Pete."

"What?" Pete asked in a shocked tone, "Peg and the kids, they're alright?"

"For now," said Hektor Nightfist, "we got them away from Maleficent. Now it's your turn to do what you promised."

"I'd like to help you guys," said Pete, "but I'm kinda stuck here."

"That's easily taken care of," said Hektor, he then looked at Leon, Yuffie and Areith, "the choice is simple," said Hektor, "either give us the cat so he can help out in a project that will eventually bring down Maleficent, or we can all fight and risk getting some of our friends killed. The choice is yours, Squall Lionheart."

Leon glared back at the Hakonian, but then he lowered his sword, "unlock the cell, Yuffie."

"What!" Yuffie exclaimed, "have you lost it, Leon?"

"We can't let him go!" said Areith, "he'll run back to Maleficent and tell him everything he's seen about what we're doing here?"

"He hasn't seen everything," said Leon.

"I won't tell Maleficent anything," said Pete in a hopeful tone, "I'm done with Maleficent. I just wanna help the Hakonians with their business so I can get my wife and kids out of all of this darkness mess."

"Why should we believe anything you Hakonians say?" Yuffie asked, "this could be one of Maleficent's plans!"

"Believe me when I say that Maleficent wants nothing more to do with our race," said Hektor, "and we want nothing more to do with her. We need Pete and he needs us."

"I think we should trust them," said Areith.

"Now you're losing it," said Yuffie, "we can't trust them!"

"Then we'll end up destroying each other," said Hektor, "so many have already died, much more will die. The cycle of darkness will continue until there is nothing left, unless someone is willing to stop it."

"He's right," said Leon, "all this hate and destruction, it can't go on like this. It has to stop, so why not start stopping it here? Yuffie, please let Pete go."

"I knew I shouldn't have asked for the keys today," said Yuffie as she put her Shuriken away and took out a set of keys from her pocket. She then unlocked the cage, "just go already."

"Thanks for the free food," said Pete as he walked out of the cage and stood next to Hektor, "so, how's my family doin?"

"I said they're fine," said Hektor, "for now," he called up a Dark Corridor, "and you can see them as soon as we get back."

"Great!" said Pete as he, Hektor and the Hakonians walked into the Dark Corridor, which closed up after them, while the other Hakonians teleported out.

"I think we've just made things worse for us," said Yuffie.

"Or maybe better," said areith, "that man did have a point; all this fighting has to stop before it's too late. Maybe we just helped set things going in the right dirrection."

"We can only hope," said Leon, "and hope that Sora and the others will be there when we need them."

* * *

><p>"Alright," said Pete as he and Hektor were shown into the room where Falkon and Tylek were waiting, "I'm back, now where's Peg and the kids?"<p>

"Show him," said Falkon.

Tylek then held up a large crystal ball which showed Peg, PJ and Pistol, and the family dog Chainsaw, sitting in a small but well kept room that was clearly a safe house.

"As you can see," said Falkon, "your family is safe."

"I wanna see them for real," Pete insisted.

"Soon," said Falkon, "they're safe where they are, and you will be reunited with them soon, as soon as you find Reddik and Rakel."

"Just what makes you think those two losers can do things right with your people?" Pete asked, "I fought with them, and they kept losing to them Keyblade brats!"

"All will be revealed when you return with them," said Falkon.

"So go look for them already!" said Tylek, "Hektor will go with you to find Reddik and Rakel."

"I am one of the best trackers among our race," said Hektor, "together, we'll find Reddik and Rakel."

"Well, okay then," said Pete. He then looked at Falkon and Tylek, "but just so you guys know, if I come back with Reddik and Rakel, and if wife and kids aren't here waiting for me, I'm gonna be so mad, you'll be slap-happy!"

"That doesn't make much sense," said Tylek.

"But we'll keep your family safe," said Falkon, "they will be here when you return with our rightful leaders."

"You can count on ol' Pete!" he said as he saluted. He and Hektor then left through a Dark Corridor.

"Do you really think they can find Reddik and Rakel?" Tylek asked, "I've got the rotten feeling that they're on a wild goose chase."

"All we can do is wait," said Falkon, "and hope that neither Maleficent or Gideon Graves finds out what we're doing. If that happens, then you can kissed the Hakonian race goodbye."

"In that case," said Tylek, "we should have told Pete about the prophecy. At least then he'd know just how serious things are."

"If we told him about the prophecy it'd only make things worse," said Falkon, "Pete, he's got heart, not always in the right place, but he's got it. But his mind can only process so much. If we told him that everything hangs in such a delicate balance, that the outcome of his finding Reddik and Ralek could tilt the balance of the future either way, it'd just upset him so much he wouldn't be able to do anything. No, he's better off without that bit of information."

"I hope you're right about that," said Tylek, "Hektor knows of the prophecy, and if he deems it necessary, he will tell Pete about it. And if Pete get's upset over the future while on his mission, then we're done for."

**The end of chapter 10.**

The story isn't over yet, folks, so stay tuned!


	11. Epilog: The Dream Technique

Last time found Team Hayner arriving at Deep Jungle where they met Tarzan. They learned of the horrific deforestation that was afflicting the world. It turned out that Lucas Lee, second of The League of Evil Exes, was clear cutting the world in order to build a massive skateboard park. Naturally Hayner, Pence, Olette, Will, Kirjava, Nessie and Tarzan, did everything they could to stop the vile skateboarder turned actor, but he kept throwing one foul move after another at them. Tarzan then challenged Lucas to a Jungle Sliding contest. The evil skateboarder managed to cheat his way into beating everyone who faced him, but then Nessie goaded Lucas into sliding too fast and he slammed into a tree. But then Lucas had even more dirty tricks up his sleeves, but in the end our heroes damaged him enough to attract several hungry leopards whom devoured him. Nessie then found another gold key and they set off for the next world.

Elsewhere, the Hakonians instigated their plan to rescue Pete from Radiant Garden, while at the same time Maleficent got fed up with failure from the demons. The Negotiator, upon hearing of the deaths of Matthew and Lucas, immolated himself in an act of penance to his dark master. But then a clone of The Negotiator arrived to take his place. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

**Epilog: The Dream Technique**

Once again Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess were running through the gloomy but green forest, chasing after The Girl who Runs with Wolves, whom they now know to be Renesmee 'Nessie' Cullen.

"Wait!" shouted Sora, "we need to talk to you!"

"Why are you running from us, Nessie?" Kairi shouted.

"Don't you have anything better to do than torment us like this!" shouted Aiden.

Just then the rain-soaked landscape shattered, and our heroes found themselves in an endless expanse of white.

"What the…?" Tess said, "where the hell are we?"

"If this is some sick joke," said Riku, "then someone's going to regret messing with us."

Just then Sora realized that they weren't alone. Donald, Goofy, Jacob, Lyra and Pan were also in the whiteness as well.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked, "Donald, Goofy, you never show up in those weird dreams."

"Gwarsh," said Goofy, "is this a dream?"

"It sure isn't what I call real," said Donald.

"Are we all dreaming the same thing?" Lyra asked.

"This has got to be the weirdest thing ever," said Jacob, "and I know weird."

Just then Roxas and Naminé appeared next to Sora and Kairi, "what's going on?" Naminé asked, "and what's with all this…nothing?"

"It's like we're in an empty universe," said Roxas.

"No," said Naminé, "it's more like…a blank canvas, a universe waiting to be filled by imagination."

"Well I'd like to imagine myself back into the real world if it's alright with everyone," said Aiden.

"Look!" shouted Pan, "there's someone coming towards us!" Far in the distance a speck of black was approaching them. The speck grew into two, human shapes. One of them turned out to be a man in his mid twenties wearing a black suit and tie with a gray overcoat. He had black hair and a black handlebar moustache.

The other person turned out to be someone Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Donald and Goofy knew all too well.

"Ansem!" shouted Sora, "you're alive!"

"By a miracle, yes," said Ansem the Wise as he and the man with the moustache walked up to our heroes, "I did survive."

"Why didn't you let us know you were alive?" Kairi asked.

"I'd like to know that myself," said Roxas in a suspicious manner, "what kind of self-righteous scheme are you getting us involved with now?"

"Wait," said Sora, "Ansem, did you…do you have something to do with these weird dreams we've been having?"

"I'm afraid so, Sora," said Ansem, "I have much to answer for today," he looked at Roxas, "but first I have to apologize to you for ruining your summer vacation. It was necessary that you be reunited with Sora, but I wish I had gone about it differently without causing you so much hurt. I realize now that you, Roxas," he looked at Naminé, "and you, Naminé, are no longer Nobodies. Even though you still lack hearts, you're just as much people as Sora and Kairi."

"Well, thanks," said Naminé.

"It still doesn't make up for what you did to me," said Roxas, "but for now I'm willing to let things slide. But more importantly, what about my friends in that other Twilight Town?" Roxas asked, "Hayner, Pence and Olette?"

"The simulations are still there," said the mustached man, "the computer with the digital Twilight Town has been restored and is secure against the darkness, and at your earliest convince, you can go inside the simulation again and see your friends."

"But first I think you would enjoy meeting the real people your friends were based on," said Ansem, "they should be here soon."

"Hayner, Pence and Olette?" Sora asked, "they're coming here?"

"Just what is this place anyway?" Riku asked.

"I can answer that," said the mustached man, "but first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Quillsh Wammy II, but everyone calls me Young Watari. I have been working with Ansem the Wise these past few months, in order to bring down Maleficent."

"Okay," said Sora, "you're working against Maleficent."

"That makes up for a lot," said Roxas.

"Indeed," said Young Watari, "I was the one who instructed Ansem the Wise in planting certain messages designed to unhinge Maleficent's already unstable sanity."

"'L. Lawlett Lives,'" said Aiden, "King Mickey told us about that."

"But who is L. Lawlett?" Kairi asked, "and why is Maleficent so afraid of him?"

"And just what the heck is this place?" Jacob demanded.

"All will be revealed soon," said Young Watari, "but first, as to this place, this is an artificial dream world, the dreamscape, where those with the right technology and ability can manipulate dreams through a method called Inception. I created that dream where you five Keyblade Wielders chased after Renesmee Cullen, while at the same time, sent dreams of you five to Renesmee."

"But why?" Jacob asked, "why mess with everyone's dreams?"

"So that you will all be somewhat familiar with each other when the time came," said Young Watari, "that you all, when you finally met in this artificial dream, would be prepared to hear what has to be said."

"I don't understand," said Lyra, "I volunteered to come to this realm to fight the darkness. But my dreams haven't been manipulated."

"Mine neither," said Jacob. He then sniffed the air and jerked his head to one direction, as if smelling something very familiar, "no…can it be?"

* * *

><p>"This has got to be the weirdest situation we've even been in," said Pence as he, Hayner, Olette, Nessie, Will and Kirjava looked around the endless whiteness.<p>

"I wish I could think of a weirder situation I've been in," said Nessie, "but I've got nothing."

"It's like a dream," said Will, "a dream in which we're all sharing."

"I've never had a shared dream before," said Olette.

"Me neither," said Hayner, "but why are all of us in the same dream now?"

"I don't know," said Nessie. She then smelled something very familiar, "can it be?" she turned around and looked off into the seemingly endless whiteness.

"What do your immortal eyes see?" Will asked.

"Someone more precious than all the treasure in existence!" said a widely smiling Nessie. She then took off running towards what she smelled, shouting, "JACOB!"

"NESSIE!" shouted Jacob as he ran towards what he smelled. Sora and the others ran after him and saw him being tackled by the girl they've been dreaming about for months. The girl then kissed Jacob square on the mouth, while Jacob, completely taken by surprise, soon got over his shock and placed his arms lovingly around her back.

"What the…?" Hayner asked as he, Olette and Pence ran up and saw Nessie and Jacob kissing.

The kiss lasted a full two minutes. Nessie and Jacob broke contact and looked at each other, "Jacob, my Jacob," said Nessie as she leaned against his chest, "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too, kiddo," said Jacob, "where have you been?"

"All over the place," she said as she and Jacob sat up, "I went to a pirate world, then a world where everyday is Halloween, and just now I was on a jungle world. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing as special you've been doing," said Jacob, "I've been to ancient China, ancient Greece and just now a world full of mermaids."

"That's awesome," said Nessie, "I'd love to meet a mermaid."

"Remind me to introduce you to Ariel someday," said Sora.

Nessie then looked up and saw Sora and the others, "holy crow!" she exclaimed with a shocked expression on her face, "it's you guys! I've been having crazy dreams about you for months!"

"Same with us," said Kairi, "nice to finally meet you for real, Nessie."

"You know my name?" Nessie asked, "what am I talking about? Of course you know who I am, you've been traveling with Jacob. I know you guys as well. You're Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden and Tess."

"How do you know about me?" Tess asked, "I'm still the new girl?"

"I altered your dreams when Tess became a Keyblade Wielder," said Young Watari.

"Who are you?" Nessie asked.

"He's the guy who's been sending you those dreams," said Jacob, "but it's for a real good reason, I hope."

Just then Hayner, Pence and Olette finally caught up with Nessie and saw Sora and Kairi, "Sora! Kairi!" shouted Olette, "you're okay!"

"Hayner, Pence, Olette," said Sora, "it's been a while."

"Way too long in my book," said Hayner.

"How'd you guys get involved in this?" Kairi asked.

"We came looking for you," said Hayner, "so we could help."

"We've been training so we can fight the darkness on our own terms," said Pence.

"You look like you've been training," said Sora.

Tess, Aiden and Riku were then introduced to the three from Twilight Town, "We've heard about you guys," said Aiden, "tell me, is Struggle as much a challenge as I've heard it is?"

"It's the best thing ever!" said Hayner, "next to Sea Salt Ice Cream."

"Great," said Aiden, "I'd like to try both."

"I haven't had Sea Salt Ice Cream in a long time," said Roxas. He had wanted to say something deep and meaningful to Hayner, Pence and Olette, but what he just said was the first thing to come to mind.

Hayner, Pence and Olette then looked at Roxas, "wait," said Olette, "do we know you?"

"I…I…that is," said a nervous Roxas, once again words failing him.

"Wait, we do know you," said Pence, "you used to hang around our world for a while."

"That's right," said Hayner, "you played Grandstand with us that one time."

"And other times we'd see you with some others atop the clock tower," said Olette.

"Yeah," said Roxas, "I used to have Sea Salt Ice Cream with my friends after every mission on the clock tower."

"I used to visit your world sometimes," said Naminé, "do you remember me?"

"Oh yeah," said Pence, "you're that girl who lived in The Old Mansion for a while. Everyone thought you were a ghost."

"I used to wear white a lot back then," said Naminé.

Just then Sora and the others realized that two specific people were looking at each other; Will and Lyra, while Kirjava and Pan were also looking at each other, as if the two humans and two daemons were seeing each other for the first time in a long time.

"Lyra?" Will asked in a slightly distant tone that barely hid his longing, "is…is it you?"

"Will Parry," said Lyra in an equally longing tone, "I…"

"Oh don't be so dramatic!" said Kirjava as she and Pan circled each other in a frolicking manner.

"It's…it's good to see you again, Will," said Lyra in a slightly uncertain tone, "I…I missed you."

"I missed you too," said Will, "but I kept my promise and moved on. I've got a really nice girlfriend back home."

"I also have a beau back at my Oxford," said Lyra, "but I've visited the Botanical Garden every Midsummer Day."

"Same with me," said Will, "I could almost feel you sitting right next to me."

"Same with me," said Lyra.

"At last," said Young Watari, "Everyone is here."

"Who are you?" Will asked.

"He's the one who's been manipulating our dreams for months," said Riku in an annoyed tone, "and we all want to know why? Just to get our attention? That's not good enough!"

"I can explain everything," said a very strange man who appeared next to Young Watari. He appeared to be in his early twenties, tall, thin and stood with a slouch and slightly bended knees. He had long, shaggy black hair, black eyes and pale skin. He wore a simple cotton white long-sleeve shirt and blue pants and his feet were bare.

"Ryuzaki," said Young Watari.

"I definitely owe these guys an explanation," said the strange man. He spoke to Sora and the others, "I am L. Lawlett, or just L, but you can call me Ryuzaki."

"You're that guy Maleficent's so scared of?" Kairi asked.

"This guy can't be for real," said Aiden.

"I'm more than I seem to be," said Ryuzaki, "you all have questions and I have the answers. I'll start with why Maleficent's so afraid of me. It began nine years before you, Sora, first took up your Keyblade, which makes it roughly after your beloved Kairi arrived on your world. I was asked, by people who wish to remain anonymous, to put together a team to infiltrate the fallen world of Radiant Garden and bring down Maleficent."

"I take it that didn't work," said Hayner.

"It nearly did," said Ryuzaki, "Maleficent had an army of monsters and lesser minions at her command, nearly all of which the team I selected managed destroyed, but we seriously underestimated Maleficent's power. My team was wiped out.

"But there's one thing Maleficent underestimated, it's my obsessive compulsive personality," he then crouched down and there next to him appeared a tray of cookies and a cup of hot coco.

"That can't be a comfortable position," said Jacob.

"It is for me," said Ryuzaki as he ate a cookie, then sipped his coco, "anyway, if there's one certain thing about me, once I start an assignment, I finish it. I assembled a bigger, stronger team and we overwhelmed the new army Maleficent had begun to gather. We then forced Maleficent off of the world, but then she returned with a large host of Heartless. Once again my team was destroyed."

Just then a tray full of various sugary snacks appeared next to Ryuzaki, "by then it had gotten really hard to find fighters willing to go up against Maleficent. I then changed tactics and begun researching into the background of Maleficent in search of a weakness to exploit. What I found was startling.

"She wasn't always the mistress of all evil. In fact, Maleficent was once a very good person. Brilliant in the ways of magic, but not entirely wise in it's usage. This was long ago, centuries ago, back when there were a lot more Keyblade Wielders, long before the Keyblade Wars, but that's a story for later.

"One day Maleficent, whom always had the power to travel to other worlds, a power shared by others, which is another story in itself, came to the Library of Athena on Olympus Coliseum. By sheer chance she found a copy of Hecate's spell book, a copy made by Athena. Why Athena would make copies of said spell book, only the goddess herself knows."

"So the book we 'liberated' from Hades truly is a copy," said Kairi.

"We still need to give that to Merlin," said Sora.

"We'll get to it when we see him," said Riku. He looked at Ryuzaki, "do go on."

"Thank you," said Ryuzaki, "anyway, being the young, impressionable magic user she was, Maleficent became obsessed with Hecate's spell book. Who wouldn't be if they found a book that had all the magic in the universe available to study? But the book had both good and dark magic in it, and as everyone knows, the dark side is all too seductive.

"The darkness of the book corrupted Maleficent, setting her on the path to becoming what she is now. Aside from being twisted and evil, Maleficent had wanted to keep the book for herself. But this was the library of Athena, and if anyone stole a book from the library, if a single volume was even returned late, the goddess would know, and the last thing anyone wants is to incur the wrath of the gods

"Maleficent then came with a plan to copy the dark half of the book without Athena or any other god or goddess ever knowing. Exactly how she did it, I don't know, but she got away with it."

"So all this time she has all the dark magic in the universe at her disposal," said a shocked Kairi, "no wonder she's the mistress of all evil."

"No wonder she could boss Hades and all those other villains around," said an equally shocked Sora.

"We're done for," said Tess in a depressed tone, "if she's got all that bad mojo to use."

"If she was invincible, if she was that all powerful," said Riku, "she would have killed us all long ago."

"And even with all that power and knowledge," said Aiden, "I doubt she could use it all. I've still got alchemic knowledge in my head that I got from my vision that I still don't know what to make of."

"Exactly," said L, "she had the knowledge, but after all this time, she still hasn't understood everything she stole. That was one weakness I could have exploited in the long term, but I wanted her dead sooner than later.

"Instead of a team of warriors, I hired one assassin after another, each one more cleaver and ingenious than the last. I must have sent seventeen professional killers against Maleficent. She killed all of them of course, but it had begun to unhinge her sanity, but only a bit, and all the effort only made things worse. The attempts on her life made her feel that much more self centered and self important. I ended up increasing her megalomania, making her that much more dangerous.

"Then after five years of having to defend herself against random assassination attempts she had had enough and sent assassins of her own after me. I managed to outwit them all, but those assassins were all part of an elaborate plan to lead me into a trap, where I wound up face to face with Maleficent herself. I tried to outwit her and escape, but she blasted me. Fortunately, I'm tougher than I look, otherwise I would have been completely blown away. Instead, I faked my own death and completely convinced Maleficent that I was finished. I'll admit that it was fun convincing the enemy that I was dead. It allowed me time to recover and gather the resources needed to try and destroy Maleficent again.

"I was finally ready to initiate my plan right about the time when you, Sora, were battling Organization XIII. I had heard that Sora had defeated Maleficent, but my research into her dark history had revealed that she had learned of a certain dark magic that would allow her to resurrect herself a total of six times. The first of which occurred about 200 years ago, then she came back to life again about 100 years ago; the full details of both incidences are pretty much lost. The third was when you defeated her the first time, Sora."

"So now we have to kill her four more times before she's gone for good?" an exasperated Sora asked.

"Seven lives, seven deaths," said Hayner.

"Not exactly," said Ryuzaki, "I'll get to that in a bit. So there I was, ready to make my move against Maleficent, when word had reached me that a new evil was about to enter the game."

"Gideon Graves," said an irate Nessie.

"He had heard about a second set of Princesses of Heart," said Ryuzaki, "but he lacked at the time the resources to find them. He had just resurrected himself after suffering an epic defeat at the hands of one Scott Pilgrim, a warrior who will arrive to help you, Sora, assuming he can ever get his ass in gear. He may be a great hero, but he can be highly unmotivated sometimes, especially when it comes to saving the world."

"And I thought you were a lazy bum sometimes," said Kairi to Sora.

"I'm not so lazy now," said Sora.

"If I may continue," said Ryuzaki, "As for Gideon, he had perfected the means to resurrect himself, and his cabal; the League of Evil Exes, as many times as they want, so long as they have the resources to do so."

"So you mean he can bring back that creep Matthew Patel?" Aiden asked.

"And that jerk Lucas?" Pence asked.

"Pretty much," said Ryuzaki, "but it takes time for the enemy to resurrect themselves, roughly twenty days, perhaps less if Gideon is willing to risk genetic defects in the resurrected body. So anyway, it took me a while to figure out Gideon's real plan. He's got Maleficent convinced that all he wants is Kairi and a non-aggression pact. But he didn't tell Maleficent why he want's Kairi. But in truth, Maleficent is only playing along with Gideon's plan until she knows exactly what Gideon wants."

"That sounds like Maleficent," said Riku, "if it'll further her own gains, then she'll pretend to submit to someone else. She probably enjoys playing the fool, only to humiliate Gideon later."

"I'd say that's a reasonable outlook on the situation," said L.

"But why does Gideon want me?" Kairi asked, "what did I ever do to him?"

"It's not what you did," said Ryuzaki, "but what you're going to do, or rather, what he wants you to do. Gideon has access to mind-control technology that can completely put you in thrall to him. One computer chip on the back of your neck and you'll be his obedient slave."

"Now I know we have to kill this Gideon," said an irate Tess as she pulled out her razor, "nobody tries to control my friends and gets away with it!"

"Isn't that your father's razor?" Aiden asked.

Tess looked at the razor and realized it was the one that belonged to her dead father, "how'd that get here?" she asked in a shocked and appalled tone.

"Didn't you throw that way?" Riku asked.

"That's part of what makes this dream world so special," said Young Watari, "if you can imagine it, and imagine it in the right way, it'll appear."

"So, if I wanted a 3 course meal with all the trimmings," said Aiden, "all I need to do is imagine it?" just then a fully laden dinning table appeared next to him. "Sweet!" he then began chowing down.

"Save some for us!" said Donald and he and Goofy helped themselves to Aiden's feast, their own imaginations increasing the amount of food on the table."

"Don't forget desert!" said Pence as he and Hayner also helped themselves to lunch.

"You can play here all you want," said Ryuzaki, "after you hear what I have to say. Anyway, Gideon sought out a pure heart that he could corrupt to his will so he could gather the second set of Princesses of Heart. He thought it was Renesmee, but while she has a pure heart, she isn't the one Gideon wanted, for Renesmee doesn't have a Keyblade."

"What does having a Keyblade have to do with it?" Kairi asked.

"I'm getting to that," said Ryuzaki as he ate one of his snacks, "he needs not only a Princess of Heart, but one who's a Keyblade Wielder as well, so he can use her in a ritual that will open a door."

"A door to Kingdom Hearts," said Sora.

"Not Kingdom Hearts," said Ryuzaki, "but so somewhere else; Mu."

"Mu?" Lyra asked, "what is that? A world full of cows?"

"Not moo, Mu," said Ryuzaki, "or rather, limbo, for it is in limbo that resides the soul of the most dangerous man who ever lived, a man who did great evil for what he thought was the greater good. This man, who's name ironically is Light Yagami, acquired the power to kill anyone he wanted, so long as he knew the name and face of his victiums. Light used that power to rid his world of criminals and other people who he thought were evil.

"The people of his world, realizing that some supernatural force was ridding their world of evil, started calling the person responsible for this supposed good Kira, and they eventually acknowledged Kira as a living god, and Light Yagami relished his new godhood.

"There were forces out to stop Kira from having his way, for murder is never the answer, even when the victims are themselves evil. But Light Yagami happened to be the most brilliant man of his times, in so that he manipulated the search for Kira, always leading the authorities in the wrong direction while he killed one criminal or dissonant after another.

"To make a long story short, Light wound up caught in his own trap and himself died. But because he used an otherworldly means to commit murder, a means called a Death Note, Light would up not going to the afterlife, but to limbo, forever.

"But apparently Kira had many disciples across time and space, the most dangerous being Gideon Graves."

"What does this have to do with Kairi!" Sora demanded.

"Aren't you impatient," said Ryuzaki, "alright, I'll tell you. Gideon needs Kairi to capture the new Princesses of Heart and use them to release Kira from limbo."

"That doesn't make sense," said Aiden, "why would an evil man like Gideon want to release a clearly insane but good-intentioned demigod?"

"If there's one thing Light Yagami is good at," said Ryuzaki, "it's manipulating people. Light manipulated Gideon into thinking that Kira was the evil deity he had been waiting for; Gideon is convinced that Kira will cover all of existence in darkness when released from limbo.

"But instead, all Light wants is to work his own evil in another universe, and be accepted as a god again. If allowed to be free again, he'll change the worlds for the worse, killing everyone who does not conform to his ideal of good, while also killing those who won't worship him as a god."

"Okay, so we've got one Villain who wants to free an even worse Villain," said Pence, "this sucks."

"That's putting it mildly," said Ryuzaki as he ate a brownie.

"What's with all the sugar snacks?" Olette asked.

"I like sweets," said Ryuzaki, "and the brain actually uses more calories than the rest of the body. Anyway, things aren't as bad as you think. There is hope. I assume that you all have found some gold keys on your recent travels?"

"We did find some gold keys," said a surprised Sora, "we've found three."

"And we found three gold keys," said Hayner.

"But what do they mean?" Will asked.

"And what is interfering with The Alethiometer?" Lyra asked.

"You can use The Alethiometer again?" Will asked.

"I've been using it for a while," said Lyra, "but something is stopping it from answering certain questions."

"That would be a side effect of the Nobody controlling items the enemy are using," said Ryuzaki, "Gideon has brought in hundreds of Uridium items, and is bringing in more all the time. Maleficent has made a handful of Uridium items from the Uridium her subordinates found in the realms of light, but the ones that Gideon has been manufacturing are derived from a more potent form of Uridium, and have inadvertent side effects. The bracelets and rings are sending out low-level magical radiation; harmless to life forms but it can mess with magical items."

"The Alethiometer doesn't use magic," said Lyra, "it uses human thought and will, and Dust."

"Don't get me started on Dust," said Ryuzaki, "anyway, destroy all the Nobody-controlling items and stop Gideon from bringing in more, and the The Alethiometer will work perfectly again."

"Okay, we'll do that," said Sora.

"And now for the real reason you're all here," said Ryuzaki, "those keys you've found throughout the worlds are part of a set of thirteen. These thirteen gold keys were scattered across the realms of light a long time ago, scattered with the promise that when the time was right, heroes from across time and space would find and gather them again."

"But what are the keys for?" Jacob.

"They unlock stuff," said Nessie, "obviously."

"But what do the thirteen keys unlock that's so important?" Sora asked.

"That Talisman that the demons were looking for?" Olette asked, "I'm just taking a shot in the dark here

"The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis," said Ryuzaki, "it has the power to bring either light or darkness to the worlds, depending on who uses it. The talisman was so powerful that the ancient Keyblade Wielders sealed it away long ago to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

"But now the time has come to unseal The Talisman, for only The Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis can destroy not only Gideon and his cohorts, but also Maleficent, forever, and Light Yagami as well."

"Aren't we trying to stop this insane murderer from being released onto the worlds?" Will asked.

"We are," said Ryuzaki, "but just in case the worst can happen, The Talisman can take care of him as well."

"This sounds better all the time," said Riku, "where is The Talisman?"

"It's on the world that's the crossroads of the universe," said Ryuzaki, "it's in a vault buried under the streets of Traverse Town."

"You mean there's this thing that can drive the darkness away," said an astonished Sora, "and it's been right there in Traverse Town all this time?"

"That's about it," said Ryuzaki, "there's still seven more keys to find, including one that's on Traverse Town as well, and hopefully, you'll find them before Gideon realized that to get to The Talisman, he needs the keys first."

"Well, hopefully we'll get the remaining keys," said Aiden, "but what about me? Maleficent needs me to find the last two of the new Princesses of Heart."

"That I'm afraid you're going to have to worry about yourself," said Ryuzaki, "there's very little I can actually do to help."

"Why?" Kairi asked, "what's wrong?"

"It'd take way too long to explain," said Ryuzaki, "and I'm almost out of time right now. There's one more thing I need to tell you, and this is specifically for Renesmee and Jacob."

"What is it?" Nessie asked.

"You gonna mess with our dreams again?" Jacob demanded.

"I may drop into your sleeping minds from time to time," said Ryuzaki, "to give you more information as I get it. But this is something else. It concerns those most close to you, mainly, your family, Renesmee, and your pack, Jacob."

"What?" Jacob asked franticly, "what do you mean?"

"What about my parents?" Nessie asked in an equally frantic tone, "and my aunts and uncles and grandparents?"

"Just your mother, father, aunts and uncles," said Ryuzaki, "and the members of Jacob's pack."

"You mean, Quill, Embry, Seth and Leah?" Jacob asked, "what about them? And what about Bella, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmet and Rosalie?"

"They were also hit by the curse that Gideon used to send you to the realms," said Ryuzaki.

"My momma and daddy are here!" exclaimed Nessie, "where are they! Tell me! Now!"

"You'd better tell her," Jacob demanded, "Or else!"

"I wish I could tell you," said Ryuzaki, "but the curse that afflicted you all, it not only separated your friends and family in space, but also time. Some of them arrived on the worlds a few minutes before you two arrived at your destinations, while the others arrived hours, even days, afterwards. The physics behind the situation would take far too long, so I'll try to keep it short.

"Jacob and Nessie arrived in the worlds at roughly the same instant because they were right next to each other when Gideon blasted them. But the others, the shape shifters and full vampires who make up your friends and family, they were all at varying distances from you when Gideon unleashed his mojo, so you were all separated in varying ways."

"I think that makes sense," said Sora, "so where is Jacob's pack?"

"And Nessie's family?" Olette asked.

"Again, I can't tell you," said Ryuzaki, "what I can say is that they are not on the worlds you've been to already, otherwise you would have found them. And don't try to find them with your Alethiometer, Lyra Silvertongue, the interfering energy of the Uridium items will make that impossible."

"I'm still going to try," said Lyra stubbornly as she looked at her Alethiometer. But then her expression grew to frustration and then to anger, "blast it all to the end of time!"

"I told you it wouldn't work," said Ryuzaki, "destroy the Uridium items and the Alethiometer will work again. Now, I suggest that both groups say their goodbyes. Hosting all of you in an artificial dream isn't as easy as it seems. In a few minutes, you're all going to wake up."

"What?" Nessie shouted, "we can't wake up yet! I just got Jacob back!"

"You forget that this isn't exactly real," said Young Watari, "in truth you're all still aboard your respective starships."

"Then we have to say goodbye again," said Lyra in a distant tone.

"After only just now finding each other," said Will.

"Oh don't be so dramatic," said Kairi, "look, your ship has a navigation computer, right?"

"Yeah," said Olette, "It has a map of the worlds."

"Then we'll meet up in Traverse Town," said Sora, "we still have to find the other gold keys, and Nessie's family and Jacob's pack. Once we've found everyone and everything, we'll all head to Traverse Town, get everyone together and find this hidden vault and unseal the talisman."

"And we'll use it to destroy Maleficent and Gideon once and for all," said Riku.

"What he said," said Aiden, while Tess nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a solid plan to me," said Hayner, "we'll do it. We'll keep searching the worlds for the keys and Nessie's family and Jacob's pack."

"And then we'll meet up to unlock the vault," said Pence, "and then we can all go out for Sea Salt Ice Cream."

"What's Sea Salt Ice Cream?" Jacob asked, "I've heard Sora and the others mention it, but what is it?"

"It's salty and sweet at the same time," said Nessie, "I really don't like it that much, but I'm sure you would."

"If you say it's worth trying, I'll do it," said Jacob, "but I'd be really grateful if you didn't tell your parents that you kissed me."

"Why?" Nessie asked, "we're going to get married as soon as I'm old enough, so why shouldn't we be kissing?" she then kissed him again, "unless there's something wrong with me."

"I don't know," said Jacob in a slightly mischievous manner, "I think I need more to make sure that everything's okay." They then kissed again, much longer and with more passion.

"Oh get a room," said Tess.

"Later," said Nessie, "once I'm of age, I mean, once I stop aging."

"You'll have all the time in the world once the worlds are saved," said Ryuzaki, "but business comes first."

"Right," said Jacob. He and Nessie then kissed again, "I'll see you later, kiddo."

"See you soon," said a smiling Nessie, "my gale wolf."

"What's that mean?" Hayner asked.

"Well it's a term of endearment that I just made up," said Nessie, "when he's a world, Jacob's faster than a vampire, like the wind, so he's my gale wolf."

"That's so romantic," said Olette.

"It is," said Kairi. She then looked at Sora, "don't even think about giving me a pet name. It's okay for other people, but I don't want one."

"I don't want one, either," said Sora.

"Either way," said Riku as he walked up to Nessie, "it's great to finally meet you, Girl Who Runs With Wolves."

"Nice to finally meet you guys," said Nessie, "you crazy Keyblade kooks."

"Is that what you called us?" Aiden asked.

"I had a lot of weird names for you," said Nessie.

"I'm sure we'd love to hear them all," said Will, "but we're about to wake up." He then looked at Lyra, "before we part again for an unknown amount of time, I have to know, are you happy with your life back on your world?"

"I guess so," said Lyra, "I have a lot of friends at St. Sophia's College for girls, and there's everyone back at Jordon, and everyone else on my world who helped me. What about you? Are you happy, Will?"

"I guess I could say that," said Will, "I also have a lot of friends. I'm also helping with Dr. Malone's research."

"Oh, how is she?" Lyra asked, "it weren't for her, we probably wouldn't have realized our feelings for each other."

"She has the research job of her dreams," said Will.

"That's good," said Lyra. They then touched hands, while Pan and Kirjava touched paws.

Just then the endless expanse of white became brighter, nearly blinding all of our heroes, "I think we're about to leave this place," said Pence.

"Is it that obvious?" Tess asked.

"Oh, Sora!" exclaimed Hayner, "I just remembered; you forgot the 4-Crystal Trophy that Seifer gave you!"

"I knew I'd forgotten something!" said Sora, "where is it?"

"Oh our ship," said Olette, "we'll bring it to you when we meet up on Traverse Town."

"We'll see you then!" said Kairi as she waved goodbye to the other set of heroes as the endless expanse of white of the dreamscape completely blinded all of our heroes.

* * *

><p>The next thing Sora and the others knew, they were back on the bridge of <em>The Intrepid Heart<em>.

"What the…?" Sora asked, "did we all just go to sleep?"

"I don't feel like I've been asleep," said Kairi.

"What happened to you guys?" Sidney asked, "you all just froze up there for a while, like someone had hit the reset buttons on your brains."

"What do you mean?" Tess asked.

"Well, in basic terms," said Sidney, "for approximately thirty seconds, you were all catatonic."

"That can't be right," said Sora, "what we just went through, it was way more than thirty seconds."

"Look at the time," said Riku as he pointed at his watch, "We entered hyperspace for Neverland about only a few minutes ago."

"He's right," said Kairi as she checked her watch, "that shared dream we just had, in the real world it only lasted for thirty seconds."

"I guess dreams last longer when you're experiencing them," said Jacob.

"Am I the only one who things that this Ryuzaki can't be completely trusted?" Lyra asked, "I think he knows more than he said he did."

"I agree," said Tess, "That guy can send us into a dream world any time he wants."

"But there's not really anything we can do about it right now," said Riku, "so we might as well carry on as before."

"But now we know what we're doing," said Kairi, "we have to find those keys so we can unlock that talisman so we can save the worlds."

"And we also have to find Bella, Edward and the other Cullen's," said Jacob, "and my pack."

"All the while making sure that the baddies don't get Kairi," said Sora, "so let's all get going."

"We're already underway," said Lyra as she looked at her Alethiometer, "Blast! It still won't work!"

"Oh, right," said Sora, "we have to destroy the Nobody controlling items."

"As if we didn't have enough to worry about," said Aiden.

* * *

><p>"How long were we out?" Hayner asked as he, Pence, Olette, Nessie, Will and Kirjava returned to consciousness.<p>

"You guys were all like zombies for about thirty seconds," said Vivi.

"Why weren't you there with us in the dream world, Vivi?" Olette asked.

"How should I know?" Vivi asked, "I'm just the pilot."

"And you do such a great job," said Pence, "we really appreciate it. So, what do we do now?"

"We keep visiting the worlds, of course," said Nessie, "my friends and family are lost out there, and we've got to find them."

"And there's more of these gold keys that we need to find," said Hayner, "and those Nobody controlling items."

"We definitely have to destroy those items," said Will, "otherwise, Lyra can't fully use her Alethiometer. Are we still on course for the next world?"

"Still on course for Wonderland," said Vivi, "unless you want to go somewhere else."

"We're still going to Wonderland," said Will, "and god help us if we run into any magic mushrooms."

At that Nessie started laughing, then Will and Kirjava laughed as well.

"What's so funny?" Pence asked.

"You'll find out when we get there," said Will.

* * *

><p><strong>…Twilight Town...<strong>

"I admit that I am impressed," said Ansem the Wise as he and Young Watari walked out of the underground laboratory and into the mansion proper, "so much accomplished in so little time."

"That's how dreams work," said Young Watari, "the human mind is capable of processing information much faster than we realize. A few minutes in a dream can take place in less than one minute in the real world."

"Yet there was still so much I wanted to tell Sora and the others," said Ansem, "if we had just remained in the dream for just a bit longer. I wanted to tell Sora about the ones who came before; about Terra, Aqua and Ventas."

"And I had confessions of my own to make," said Young Watari, "but this time the one controlling the dream, L, he couldn't keep us all under for any longer."

"Just where is L?" Ansem asked, "and was that really him?"

"L has that affect on those he meets," said Young Watari, "that was what he really looks like. As to where he is, I'm afraid that the fewer who know, the better. Maleficent would tear the worlds apart in order to destroy L, now that she's convinced that he's alive."

"Still," said Ansem, "I wish I had told Sora more, him and the others."

"There's only so much we can tell them," said Young Watari, "Sora and his friends must be free to make their own mistakes. We've manipulated them enough, it's time they walked on their own. But…"

"But what?" Ansem asked.

"But if things get too rough," said Young Watari, "then we can step in and offer advice. But we must be careful not to let the enemy know what we're doing. The fact that we know Gideon's plan gives us the advantage."

"And advantage we can lose if the enemy learns of our own plans," said Ansem, "I understand. All we can do now is wait, and hope that the young heroes make the right choices."

"Yes, all we can do is wait," said Young Watari.

* * *

><p><strong>…Somewhere in Time and Space…<strong>

L, otherwise known as Ryuzaki, sat, or rather squatted, in front of a laptop in a lavishly expensive hotel room that was littered with candy wrappers and dirty desert plates.

"It's a shame I can't do any more right now," said L, "but if Maleficent, Gideon or Light ever figures out where I am, then I'm as good as dead, again." He sighed and leaned back, "but I can't take any unnecessary risks this time. I've used up almost all my lives; any further risks and I'll be wiped out from existence forever."

He sighed again, "I knew I should have just stayed at solving crimes back home on Earth. But that's no longer an option. I've gone too far to go back. It's been all or nothing for a long time, so if this is it, the endgame, then I might as well give it my all and go out with a blast, a blast big enough to take out the dark ones once and for all."

L then began typing at his laptop, "if I'm going to do that, I'll have to bring in everyone who'll be needed, and get them in place as soon as possible."

* * *

><p><strong>…New Hollow Bastion…<strong>

"As soon as we locate the other Evil Exes," said the second Negotiator, "we'll be able to move onto the next phase of the plan."

"And what next phase would that be?" Maleficent asked.

"Why, bringing Mr. Graves to this universe of course," said the second Negotiator, "upon the destruction of my predecessor and my activation, Mr. Graves informed me that he will be coming here to personally assess the situation and render whatever aid he can give."

"I do not need any assistance!" said Maleficent, "and I especially do not need it from your master."

"Mr. Graves assumed you say that," said the second Negotiator, "but he is coming here regardless. Soon he will be here in this fantastic world."

"Well you tell your master that his assistance is not wanted," said an irate Maleficent, "I have everything under control."

"I'll pass it along," said the second Negotiator. His PDA then chimed, "oh, he's already on his way. He should be arriving via Dark Corridor any second now."

Just then a Dark Corridor opened up. Emerging from it was a man, roughly in his late 20's to early 30's with slightly long dark hair and dark eyes behind glasses. He wore a red vest with a white jacket and pants and carried a black cane with an elaborately carved head.

"Welcome, Mr. Graves," said the second Negotiator as he bowed, "did you have a pleasant journey?"

"As pleasant as can be when traveling through one of these Dark Corridors," said Gideon Graves as said Dark Corridor closed up. He then saw Maleficent, "ah, here's the mistress of all evil herself," he then bowed with a flourish of his hand, "Gideon Graves, at your service."

"I am pleased to meet you," said Maleficent, "but if you believe that you can just waltz into my domain and assume command, you had better start running."

"I have no intention of shoving you aside, Maleficent dear," said Gideon in a placating manner, "I merely wish to make sure that I get what was promised to me."

"Ah, yes," said Maleficent, "Kairi. Why do you need that slip of a girl so much? Do you wish to make her a pet of yours? A plaything?"

"She's not my type," said Gideon, "I may be bad, but I'm not that bad, not a pervert anyway. No, I need Kairi because she's the one, out of all the women in existence, who's not only a Princess of Heart, but also a Keyblade Wielder."

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Maleficent asked.

"Because she can be corrupted into bringing all the new Princesses of Heart here," said Gideon, "and use them to open the door to Kingdom Hearts."

"Oh, I see," said Maleficent in an appreciative and contemplative manner, "turn a Keyblade Wielder who's also a Princess of Heart to the darkness, while also breaking the heart of that wretched Sora. The fallen Keyblade Wielder would then bring the new ones here, then everything would come together. Yes, yes I like this plan."

She faced Gideon, "you have my blessing to do whatever you deem necessary to b ring Kairi here. Also, make sure that the Keyblade Alchemist, Aiden Mackenzie, is brought here, for he has the identities of the remaining Princesses in his mind."

"They'll be here before you know it," said Gideon, he then faced the second Negotiator, "now, where's Todd, Roxie and the twins?"

"I'm afraid my predecessor destroyed himself before he could locate the living Evil Exes," said the second Negotiator, "while Matthew and Lucas will need several days before they can be successfully resurrected."

"I know that," said Gideon, "come on, we've got work to do," he then bowed to Maleficent, "it's a pleasure to finally be face to face with you, great Maleficent, but I have to take my leave for the time being. But I can assure you that it's only a matter of time before everything we want is attained."

"That it will be," said Maleficent.

Gideon bowed again and he and the second Negotiator left the room.

"And interesting man, my pet," said Maleficent to her raven, "he seems genuine, yet I sense that he has alterative motives. What those are, I will soon discover, then turn them to my advantage. Gideon and his demons are convinced that I can be manipulated to suit his needs. I intend to prove them all wrong, that I am, was, and shall forever more be, the mistress of all evil."

* * *

><p>"Has there been any sign that she senses what we're really up to?" Gideon asked as he and the second Negotiator walked through the castle corridors.<p>

"None that neither I or my predecessor could discern," said the second Negotiator, "the mistress of all evil is falling into our hands."

"'Our hands?'" Gideon asked.

"I mean your hands, Mr. Graves," said the second Negotiator hastily, "your hands."

"Yes, my hands," said Gideon, "and then, when everything is ready, just when Maleficent things she's won, we make her crash and burn."

"I admit it's been fun deceiving her," said the second Negotiator, "my predecessor thought the same way. She things we're doing all of this just to open the door to Kingdom Hearts."

"Oh, a door will be opened alright," said Gideon, "but to somewhere else. And from that door will come the true master of the darkness. Soon, so soon, Lord Kira, the true god, will be released to plunge all of existence into darkness, and I shall be the hand of god."

"This is so, Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator.

"Now if we can just get the idiots together so they can do what they're supposed to do," said Gideon, "We can actually get somewhere."

"I'll get our best locators on it," said the second Negotiator.

"You do that," said Gideon, "Lord Kira's patience is wearing a bit thin."

* * *

><p><strong>…The Endless Expanse of Mu…<strong>

Hovering in limbo, Light Yagami, a man in his early twenties with brown hair, dark brown eyes and wearing a brown jacket and pants, also known as Kira, sat waiting. "Soon," he said, "soon I'll be free of this horrible emptiness. A new universe waits for me, a universe in dire need of justice, my kind of justice. Soon I'll be released and this new universe will be destroyed and reborn, and then I will become the god of this new universe."

**The end of Volume 10.**

_Just when you thought things were crazy enough, they get even more wild. What will happen to all of our heroes as the search for the missing vampires and shape shifters? And will they find the remaining keys to unlock the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis in time to stop Maleficent, Gideon and Kira? All of this and more will be revealed in the next segment of the Beyond the Door to Light saga._

_Stay tuned for Volume 11: Worlds in Crisis. See you then!_


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